Scenario no Yui
by GuppyLips
Summary: What if Gendo Ikari had went into Unit 01 instead of Yui? I've tried to do justice to the possibility, which I hope after reading you'll find plausable, as well as the ramifications such an action has for the Eva universe.
1. Scenario no Yui Prelude

**Author's Notes:**

I plan on using Eva canon for the most part. However, there are and always will be some key issues that never sat well with me regarding the use of religious imagery. It bugs me that the creators took so many cool religious elements and made them into a separate mythos for the show. Perhaps I am showing a little bias because I am from a Judeao-Christian background, but such things as making the Lancea Longinus a weapon of massive scale without some back up story really bugged me. I'll try to address some of that as I come to it. As well as other questions, like how did they manage to get the berserk Eva back into the cage after eating the Angel, when in the episode before the Nerv staff was concerned because they could no longer control said Eva. I always thought that was a poor transition and very anticlimactic. I'll see if I can do anything satisfactory with such story elements.

Some of the characters are going to be noticeably OOC. I feel when you substitute such a key figure as Gendo Ikari and replace him with Yui, the ripple is dramatic and noticeable. Some characters may be present that weren't, and vice versa. Some characters may be altered to the point that they are barely noticeable. I feel for this sort of fic, this is called for. Still, it will probably leave your average purist feeling ill. I ask that when weighing whether a character is suitable or not, contemplate the context of the story. If I have still screwed up, let me know.

**Disclaimer**- You people know I don't own evangelion or anything else. I mean come on, who sues fanfic writers anyway.

**Prelude **

**2004**

Fuyutsuki turned the key on the apartment door. He was in the middle of pushing the door open when he hesitated to cherish the breeze that rolled across the porch. There were few things that could offset a summer day like a cool breeze. Since Second Impact every day was hot. It made the air flowing in front of his apartment golden.

Kozo smiled, and finished opening the door. He took his suitcase to the table while pulling the collar of his shirt loose. He picked up the remote for the television on his way back to the living room, and turned on the news.

That was when Kozo caught a glimmer out of the side of his eye. He turned to find Gendo Rokubungi (Gendo Ikari he amended in his mind.) The man was pushing his glasses up on his face. He had taken to wearing a new pair recently, and they were apparently oversized. He was around a corner of the apartment away from the entrance room, so Kozo had been blind to his presence until now.

Gendo had worked his way into Kozo's life and changed its direction entirely. Kozo was still never sure if he was grateful or displeased with that turn of events, though most of the time he leaned toward the latter. Gendo had a face full of rough beard growth that Kozo still felt needed perpetually slapped, even after he had come to understand some of what the man was about. Of course, Kozo was not so doddering that he couldn't recognize a bias on his own part. He had to admit that Gendo held himself admirably in the murky waters that were Seele's will. He was driven and cunning, and willing to do what it would take to make the job happen.

This was why the gun that was trained on Kozo in Gendo's hand was all the more menacing. Kozo stood frozen, unable to think of what to do next.

"I suppose I should look into better security," Fuyutsuki finally blurted out as nonchalantly as he could. Perhaps if he could pretend to be calm, he could become so. As it was, his brain was locked with fear and the desire to run. He barely kept himself under control.

Gendo smiled as he brought his hand back down from where it had pushed up his glasses. He reached to the table, and pressed a button on a hand-held player. Slowly Kozo heard a conversation that consisted of his voice, Yui Ikari's, and her two-year-old son's frequent laughter and childish interruptions. It played for a minute, and Kozo's face went pale as he realized the particulars of the dialogue. He started to speak, and Gendo merely pointed the gun with a bit more determination at Kozo. So he waited for Gendo to turn the machine off.

"Many men would already be angry with another who would frequently go off with their wife unattended. Imagine how much more that anger would be if he discovered that the two are plotting said wife's death."

Kozo sighed, and turned to look at the wall. When given such a bold statement, it was hard for him to meet Gendo's eyes. "Not death, Ikari. It's a means of subverting Seele's plan to a desired outcome." Kozo looked at the table where another device was sitting. It resembled a trio of speakers, and a red light was flashing on top of it.

Gendo followed his gaze. "This is an anti-surveillance device. We can speak freely here. I swept your apartment for bugs, as well as yourself before I planted my own." There was a hint of a smile. "You remember me dropping my pen yesterday?"

Kozo suddenly did, and remembered the way Gendo had picked it up had seemed odd. Gendo went on, "This is all incidental. How is trapping my wife within a golem going to subvert Seele's plans?"

Kozo did manage to meet the man's eyes briefly then, before finding some other place for them to be. "She wants to do it… for Shinji. According to the prophecies, only a woman's soul can fuse with Eva. And according to the prophecies…"

"Ah yes, the Dead Sea Scrolls. Tell me Professor, after what you've seen us do, after 'Antarctica', could you believe that a prophecy is anything as limiting as a literal account of what can or cannot be? There are passages that are open to interpretation, and those that are closed to them. Our plans are merely as simple as extracting various possibilities to a given metaphor in a scripture. And yet you could not conceive of such a way of doing this that would not destroy my wife."

Kozo's eyes flashed anger. "It's not as if you love her, Rokubungi! Yui was just a way for you to worm into Gehirn and Seele! This marriage, this family, this love you've inspired in her is just a farce for your manipulative goals." Kozo realized he had said too much, and the cold metal that he suddenly felt on his temple was a suitable exclamation point to that notion. Gendo had moved fast. Murderously fast.

Through gritted teeth Gendo addressed him, "Good, Professor. Let's be frank. I tire of us walking on eggshells around one another. You've always wanted my wife. She's sweet, she's brilliant, and she respected and admired you. What's ten years age difference really? So what if she was a student? You hate me because you are not me, Professor Fuyutsuki."

"That's not…" Kozo started, before the gun being pushed between his eyes interrupted him.

"If I can hear the truth, so can you, Professor."

There was a pregnant pause, but neither man seemed inclined to say more. Gendo settled back into his chair in the corner. "You were correct up to a point. I was using Yui. You see, I have never had to adjust my actions to choose between my wife and my goals. This is the dilemma Yui and yourself have brought me."

"So do you plan on stopping her?"

Gendo placed the gun on the table. "Indeed. I plan on replacing her."

Kozo's face turned to a dark. A suspicion immediately crossed his mind. "Naoko?" It was impossible for anyone not to notice the regard that the woman gave Gendo, and he did a good job of deflecting obvious flirtations while not rejecting the woman. Yui had said when she confronted Gendo about this, he had pointed out that the creator and expert of the Magi system was not someone their team needed as a woman scorned. It hadn't sat well with her, but like so many things Gendo did, it was analytically sensible.

Gendo laughed. "Clarification is required. I plan on taking her place."

Kozo's thoughts raced. Was such a thing possible? "You can't. The gender use in the scripture is very specific. And Yui would never allow it."

Gendo pat the playback device at the table, which was in front of the surveillance countermeasure device. "I have been creative with this recording. I've dubbed the conversation so that it would call Yui's sanity and self-preservation into question. Especially since she makes so many remarks concerning Shinji coming closer to her through her demise. Don't worry; I've edited out your inclusion in the conversation, as well as anything that would send up red flags if this were to fall under the committee's scrutiny."

"I could never have Yui committed Gendo…"

"After I have gone into the Prototype, you won't need to keep her in an institute. A battery of tests will reveal my wife to be sane. In the midst of a conspiracy to destroy mankind, she is still among the least paranoid people I know." Gendo smiled. "I'll be effectively out of the picture, and you will be the obvious source for consolation."

"You do not give me enough credit, Gendo. I would never…"

"Save it, Professor. You have done an admirable job of relegating yourself to the position of a doting father figure. But there is nothing as acute as a husband's jealous regard for detecting the longing looks of other men for what he has."

Kozo tried a different tact. "There is a reason for Yui to be the one to go into Eva. You are a conniver and manipulator, Gendo. Our present conversation is testimony enough for that. If we are to create our own scenario, we might only succeed under your guidance."

Gendo smiled. "Nonsense, Professor. Yui and yourself can learn how to carry a poker face, and my wife is more than intelligent enough to outwit the committee. I will leave you with one plan, and that is all I can do. You have the prophecies to guide you. There will be no problems that will prove insurmountable. If there is one thing that the predictions dictate, it is that we will somehow defeat the Angels when they come, save the final enemy. And that is merely dramatically vague."

Kozo looked at Gendo hard for a moment. His eyes flickered to the gun, and then back. "Why?" he finally managed.

Gendo pointed to the table. "I have listened to that recording many times since yesterday. I have tried to imagine going on without Yui, and cannot. She is the only person I've known who has truly known me, and not been frightened away. I did not know how much that meant to me until the possibility of living without it arose. As for Yui, she loves me, but her love for Shinji is a mother's love that far outweighs anything else. I think it may have been all she's ever wanted. She'll go on in my absence if she still has Shinji. I'm not sure I can say the same."

They were both silent for a while. Kozo was the first to speak back up. "Contemplating this whole situation leaves me feeling dirty."

"Indeed. For me, leaving the South Pole to let half of humanity die drove home the fact that life is full of moral quandaries."

Kozo nodded. "There's still the problem of gender. The text is pretty specific."

"The actual word translates into mother or progenitor, professor. And let's just say I have an ace up my sleeve for that problem. The golem will recognize me as an appropriate soul."

Kozo contemplated this. "Castration?"

A slight smile spread across Gendo's face. "A solution both painful and irrelevant. Besides, I have a sample from Lillith that should prove less emasculating."

Kozo's eyes widened at that. Gendo really had gotten into the thick of things. Could they afford to loose such shrewdness to the role of a pilot enhancer that wouldn't even see use for another decade?

Fuyutsuki's thoughts drifted back to Yui. Though he tried to cover his heart's desire with denials and noble intentions, the outcome of his ponderings went a predictable course.

"What do I need to do?"

Gendo let his gun rest in his lap. "Stay out of the way, Professor. You have the resources to stop any of this. Don't. When I have carried out what I have planned, you may see to it that Yui is released. Tell her what I did, and that I did it… for Shinji. He needs a mother to care for him more than he needs her as a piloting aid."

Kozo was disgusted for a moment. It was a bold and shameless lie. But it was hard to keep any righteous indignation for such a small falsehood when he was betraying Yui's trust. He looked up as Gendo laid a manila folder on the table. "Burn that when you are done." Gendo packed his electronic equipment and handgun into a duffle bag that had been under his seat, and made his way to the door. He turned back to Fuyutsuki. "You are the kind of man I thought you would be, Professor. Maintain such character in my absence."

And then he was gone.

Kozo walked over to the folder and opened it. The first words were enough to catch his breath, and he read and reread the document for most of the night. He could not sleep, and his mind drifted back over the contingencies and dynamics of the ruthless proposal of Gendo's 'Human Instrumentality Project.'

**A week later**

The clinical smell and white rooms were almost a thing of the past, and Yui was anxious to be out of this place. It felt like a small eternity since she had seen Shinji, and the worry was wearing on her. She thought it would not have been much longer before the tests and evaluations of her sanity might start coming up with results. Her stomach fluttered, and her step was lighter. The idea of seeing her son was enough to overshadow the trepidation she felt at confronting Gendo.

Yui had been informed that it was Gendo that had her committed to a psychiatric evaluation. He had provided some proof that called her lucidity into question. She knew her husband well enough to know what a small matter it would be for him to manufacture such evidence. Still, this level of betrayal, towards her… and at this juncture in their plans. There was something else to it. It would not save Gendo from her wrath though. She had been given a lot of time to ponder these last few days. If Gendo and her fell out, how would that fare for all of mankind? Did she need to risk humanity because she had an insane husband? Was this because he was trying to stop the tests with Unit-01? Or was this a stunt for him to get closer to Seele at her expense? Through her ponderings she had to hold to one thing: she was sure her husband loved her. The only thing she could do now was confront him with the situation.

Professor Fuyutsuki was the one who was waiting for her in the lobby. When she went to speak, he shook his head, and turned to get the door for her. Confused, and now scared, she went out of the building, and walked with him to his car. Her fear mounted with every step. Her attempts to talk were shushed again until they were safely within the confines of the vehicle.

"I can't take this professor. What is going on? Where's Shinji? Where's Gendo?"

"Shinji is safe. Gendo is… gone."

Yui looked ready to cry. "What?"

"Into Eva."

And then the tears flowed.


	2. Scenario no Yui Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**- Who owns Eva. Not me. This is just essentially fan-based babbling on the subject. If gaining control of the Evangelion market share was as easy as claiming ownership through a fanfic, I'm sure someone with more savvy than I would have tried it by now. It's almost been out for almost a decade now, just be glad someone is still enthused about the work, and don't go harassing them, oh powers that be.

**Chapter 1**

**2015, Tokyo-3**

A screeching of tires accompanied a blue Renault's slide as the car skidded to a halt beside two teenagers. The passenger side door flew open.

"Hurry you two. Get into the car." The purple-maned beauty from within called urgently.

Shinji looked up surprised at Misato Katsuragi. His breath was coming back slowly but surely. "What's going on?" He reached up and wiped the perspiration from his brow.

"An angel."

Shinji's eyes widened. Rei was beside him, staring incredulously at Misato. She was dirty and sweating as well. Her school uniform was a mess, and mostly discarded. She was down to a shirt and skirt now. The rest was somewhere on the path behind them. "Aunt Yui says it's not due for another two weeks."

A loud explosion rumbled from the distance. Windows rattled in their panes, and the wires of power cables and telephone lines shook. One came loose, and struck the sidewalk about twenty meters from where the trio was talking. If the streets had been as crowded as they usually were it would have been a catastrophe.

"Nobody told the Angel that. Get in the car! Hurry!"

Rei jumped into the backseat quickly, and Shinji scurried into the front. As soon as his foot had left the pavement, Misato started driving.

"Hey!" Shinji shouted. He was thrown into the car by centripetal force as Misato turned the car.

"You're late as it is. We have got to get you two to HQ now."

"Waiting three seconds isn't going to kill us, but you're driving might," Shinji snapped.

Misato gritted her teeth. She liked these kids, she really did. But growing up with the Sub-commander of Nerv as their guardian had made them something of brats. Especially Shinji, who was by all accounts a mamma's boy.

"I don't need any distractions now, Shinji, so just let me drive in peace," Misato said with forced calm.

Rei was staring out the back glass, seemingly oblivious of the conversation from the front seat. 'Wow' was all Shinji heard her mutter. He looked in the rearview mirror, and saw what had caught her eye.

The Angel was making its way into view from the other side of a hill. U.N. VTOLs were engaging it. A white face with a beak was encased on top of a dark-green hulking frame. Grey trim ran all across its body, and swirled around a circular red shape in the center of its torso. The beast brought up a clawed hand and a shaft of energy flew from its palm into an aircraft that had been firing missiles at it.

"That's where we were," Shinji whispered in awe. Rei had wanted to visit a mall on the far side of the city, citing that it was fun because it was 'off the compound.' The Section Two agents that were assigned on their detail should have taken them to Nerv when the sirens activated, but for some reason the security men hadn't been around. With everything in the city down, Shinji and his cousin had taken off running for the base. Misato had caught the two as they were jogging after a mile sprint in the direction of Nerv.

The Angel destroyed two more aircraft in quick succession. Rei sounded like she might cry as she turned back. "Why do they keep sending the pilots in? Conventional weapons will have no effect; we know that! It's killing them."

"Because the U.N. is stubborn and proud." Misato's voice was tinged with antipathy as she made the proclamation.

"Looks like they're getting over that problem," Shinji said, still gazing in the side mirror. He turned around for a better look. "All of the aircraft just disengaged and flew off.

"What!" Misato looked to see that it was true. She stopped for a moment, and heard a sound that made her blood run cold. 'A bomber,' she thought, as she heard the sound of the jet engine over her own vehicle's idling motor. She started searching the road frantically, and saw a suitable brace point. They were lucky in that they were near an overpass. She pulled the car off the road and as close as she could to the side of the concrete support that merged with the ground. It was angled, with a meter between the front corner of her vehicle and the foundation for the overpass. She got out of the car quickly.

Shinji rubbed his head where it had banged the ceiling when they had pulled off, and looked back to his cousin. "Has she gone crazy?" Shinji asked Rei. His answer was interrupted as Misato began hauling his cousin out.

"Shinji, Rei, hurry," Misato beckoned anxiously. He scrambled towards the driver side and out.

"What is this?" he asked, stifling anything more sarcastic due to the seriousness of the situation. Katsuragi was actually scared.

"They're going to drop an N2 mine. Help me push the car."

The trio went to work rocking the Mustang until it had made it up on its side. Misato urged the two children hurriedly to the space between the car and the concrete. It was then that she heard the explosion, and threw both to the ground, covering them with her own body. There was a flash and roar, and the hot air that rushed over them was almost suffocating. Rei started coughing quickly from the cloud of dust that came with the warm breeze. She was the first to walk out, shielding her eyes as she looked towards the Angel. Her pale features became brighter as she stepped from the shadow of the overpass.

"Rei no!" Misato sprinted to grab the girl. Rei didn't understand what the big fuss was. Then everything went dark with an abrupt strike to her forehead.

Shinji watched in horror as his cousin walked out from the confines of the overpass, and was caught in a sudden rain of debris. A signpost with a curved arrow managed to clip her head, and she crumbled on the ground. Shinji screamed for Rei as the fragments continued to rain down sporadically. Misato ran out and scooped up Rei, and returned back to the vehicle.

"Is she alright? Oh Rei," Shinji said, cradling her neck.

Misato put her fingers to Rei's neck. She then grabbed Shinji's chin, and turned it gently up to her. "She's bleeding, but still has a pulse, and seems fine otherwise. Be careful with her Shinji; head trauma can be serious. The best thing you can do is help me get this car back over. We're only ten minutes from headquarters, and we can get Rei medical attention there.

Shinji sniffled, but nodded with determination. 'He's a good kid,' Misato thought. 'I just hope he's able to handle combat stress better than what I'm seeing now.'

The car didn't rock because they were working without the help of shocks this time, but by pushing higher on the frame the vehicle gave way to their efforts. The car landed with a loud clang, and Misato winced. Shaking off the trepidation of what damage her vehicle had taken, she helped Rei into the backseat. Shinji cradled her neck, and eased back into the car with her as Misato carried the lower half of the body. He kept his position in the rear of the car, gently stroking her hair and looking anxious.

Katsuragi checked the glove compartment and handed back some napkins. "Hold these to the wound. Apply pressure and it should stop the bleeding." Shinji nodded and took the napkins. Misato started their journey again, going at a slightly less reckless pace for fear of jarring her injured passenger. She dialed her phone when she found a relatively straight stretch of road.

"Hey… Yeah, I got them. Have a medical team on standby, Rei's been hurt… No, a concussion I think, she took a shot to the head... Yeah, I know. It was caused by debris from the N2 explosion… The next time the U.N. drops an N2 mine, they could give active personnel in the field a warning… I understand. Just hope I don't ever meet one. What's the status?… Good. We should begin prepping Unit 01 for a sortie… Yeah, I'll bring Shinji there. How long until the Angel is reactivated?… Oh well, it's something. What are its operational parameters?… Okay. I'll be there shortly. Buh-bye."

Misato looked back at Shinji, who wore obvious concern on his face. "She'll be fine. It's likely a concussion, and will probably keep her out of combat…"

"She's unconscious. She better not be going into combat," Shinji blurted.

Misato stopped the car and turned around, staring levelly at Shinji. "I am your superior officer, First Children. I know you are under pressure. But combat will be just as nerve-racking. I hope I don't have to rely on this sort of attitude during the heat of battle. I want to do the best I can. Trust me to do it, without giving me a smart mouth and insubordination in return." Misato took a deep breath, and then smiled. "Okay?"

Shinji was a bit stunned, but managed a nod. Misato turned back and started the car towards headquarters. "This Angel has demonstrated several means of attack thus far. A kinetic rod propelled through its forearm causes serious impact damage, and has range extensive beyond what would be expected by its casing. It has also shown evidence of a sort of energy attack. A glowing in the eyes will alert you of energy build up before this attack is launched, but the warning time is just a fraction of a second. And don't forget the likelihood of an A.T. Field. This is just what we know based on encounters with the U.N.'s VTOLs. It may have other combat capabilities that it has kept hidden from us."

The Renault pulled into a gray building, and eased into guide clamps. She reached her arm out the driver's side window and typed numbers into a keypad beside them. There was a sound of machinery starting up, and the car started moving down the vehicle escalator. "Are you getting this Shinji?"

The boy nodded quickly to her, and then turned his attention back to the blue-haired girl in his lap.

'Why are you making me nag,' Misato thought tiredly in her mind. "Repeat it to me, First Children."

"The Angel has a forearm spike, can shoot energy, and has an A.T. Field."

"Good." The Geofront sublevel should have been almost accessible by now. As if to her answer her thoughts, the escalator came to a halt. "We're here."

As soon Misato was out of the driver's seat and had let the seat up Shinji came rushing out. A medical team was nearby, and he carried the girl over. He placed her on the waiting gurney, almost fighting the medics who were trying to take her off of his hands. The EMTs finally managed to elbow him out of the way, and moved the gurney with a hurried pace. Misato knew the crew could have forced Shinji aside easily, but most of the staff was familiar with the two pilots. They seemed to understand, and were being much more gentle than they could have been. Shinji acted as if he would follow the medical staff to one of the emergency rooms, but felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Misato.

"No time, kiddo. If you don't hurry up and make it to your Eva, the Angel will destroy us all. We've got to move."

Shinji watched the gurney going away, and then finally turned back to Misato. "Let's go."

Misato had several occasions along the course of their journey to be glad to have the boy with her. She would have been lost ten times over, but Shinji seemed to know the place like the back of his hand. He made it to the cage area quickly, and Misato felt confident enough to leave him with Dr. Akagi while she went to take her place on the bridge.

"Hello, Shinji," Dr. Akagi said, walking with him as he made his way to the entry plug loading level.

"Hi, Naoko," Shinji replied quickly, sparing a brief and warm glance to the older woman accompanying him.

"The Magi will be monitoring your vitals and synch ratio. I just wanted you to know that everything will be fine. Just do like you did during the simulations. You'll be able to beat this Angel if you can do that."

Shinji smiled back up at Dr. Akagi. "Thanks. I'll do my best."

Naoko stopped suddenly. Shinji looked, and saw his mother waiting for him at the platform. Naoko wished him good luck and left. Shinji would be happier if the friction that existed between his mom and Naoko wasn't there. He had never understood what it was about. He saw the dour look that had briefly crossed his mother's face brighten as he approached.

Yui embraced her son in a hug, and kissed him on the cheek. Shinji looked around embarrassed by the attention that the techs were giving him. "Mom," he protested in the whining manner of all teens that feel they are being publicly humiliated by their parents.

She stood up, and smiled. "Be safe Shinji. Please." When she released him from her embrace and looked at him there were tears standing in her eyes. "This angel is dangerous. Fight smart."

Shinji nodded, and hugged Yui again. "I'll be okay mom. It's not like Rei and I haven't been practicing for the last two months on the simulations. I'll be fine."

"Don't be overconfident. We don't know what this Angel will do."

Shinji nodded. "I'm not; I'm just trying to calm you down."

Yui laughed, stepped back. "I need to let you go. I'm proud of you Shinji, and your father would be proud of you too."

Shinji waved, the last bit almost enough to choke him up. Then he turned, and made his way to the entry plug.

On the bridge, Misato was going through the pre-launch checks with various technicians who were calling data out. Commander Fuyutsuki watched with apparent disregard. He knew when he heard the pressurized whiff of a door opening that Yui had returned. He started updating her immediately.

"Rei is suffering a concussion. Naoko determined that it would affect her synch ratio for the near future. I have advised that she be kept under medical watch and close to the area of Unit-00 should an emergency arise." Fuyutsuki turned to see Yui's face as she took the news.

"We tried to prepare for the prophecy, and it still blew up in our face, didn't it?" Yui sighed as she watched the command bridge. She had an especially watchful eye for Misato. She knew on an analytical level that Misato was competent, and had done all she could to keep her children safe. Still, in her heart, she blamed Misato's negligence for Rei's current state.

"One cannot circumvent the word of God; all we can do is creatively interpret it." Kozo looked down onto the floor and saw the various screens showing the pilot's bio-signs and one showing a live feed to the cockpit. "Are you going to be able to handle this? Watching your son go into battle must be hard for you."

"It's better than not watching. Besides, I've had over a decade to get ready. I'm a bad mother for saying this, but it's a relief to finally be done with the worrying. I've lived most of my life in fear of these battles." Sub-commander Yui Ikari had walked over to Kozo's side, and now stood rigidly with her hands clasped behind her back. He wanted to grab her hand and squeeze it reassuringly, but knew such would not do.

With a gray skirt and matching jacket, she cut a serious and commanding figure. Her occasional smile and tendency to wear her emotions on her sleeve undid any stern image she could have hoped to achieve on normal occasions. Fuyutsuki was pleased to see the professionalism Yui carried herself with now. He could do no less.

"He'll be fine Yui. Your boy is coming back to us."

"He is. But I don't know if he'll be the same. He's about to start a journey through Hell."

Captain Katsuragi was shouting. "Final safety lock released. Evangelion Unit 01 ready for launch."

"Proceed," Commander Fuyutsuki stated loudly, and the room filled with an almost tangible excitement as the Eva went grinding along the launch rail to the streets of Tokyo-3 above.


	3. Scenario no Yui Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**- Last time I checked, I still don't own Gainax or Evangelion. Haven't even got stock in companies related to the two. All I have is a few DVDs and fansubs. So do not sue me, because I am poor. Suing poor people is useless, and in this case, just plain mean.

**Chapter 2**

The bridge was a buzz of activity. Misato was shouting commands to Makoto Hyuga. "Launch the Eva up tube 26-D. Expel it at the exit near the 27th ammo dump." She turned to another tech. "What is the status of the Angel?"

"It's still healing. We are T-minus fifteen minutes and twelve seconds from estimated conclusion of regeneration cycle."

Maya Ibuki had her attention shifting between giving reports to Misato and Naoko. Naoko put a hand on her shoulder. Maya smiled, but did not take her eyes of the data screen.

"Are there any problems with the synch ratio or pilot's biosigns?"

"The synch ratio is holding at a steady 48 percent. All signals from Unit 01 and the First Children are within expected operational parameters and show no sign of deviation." Maya was beaming at the screen as she added. "It's running well, Sempaii."

"We'll know for sure when we encounter the Angel." She turned to look up and see Yui standing prissy and stuck-up beside Fuyutsuki. He was seated, and his watchful eye seemed to take in everything and nothing in particular at the same time. He exuded an aura of calm and command that did much to keep the bridge working efficiently. She nodded to him, and then turned back to the data screens.

"Eva has reached the surface."

Misato pressed a button in front of her the actived an audio/holographic link to the pilot. "Shinji, grab a gun from the building to your left."

Above, and on the street to Shinji's left, a building's face began folding and a weapons stockpile was revealed. "Sniping Rifle or Automatic?" Shinji queried the face of Misato that had appeared in the upper right of the plug wall.

"Automatic. The firepower is comparable, and if you don't manage to get the jump on this Angel you'll need the extra ammo filling the air."

Shinji grabbed the gun and began moving towards the target. "Will this be strong enough to penetrate an A.T. Field?"

"We're hoping to catch a break and attack the target before it has readied itself. If that happens, it won't unfold its A.T. Field before you gun it down. Be ready to withdraw the progressive knife for combat though. There is an umbilical station up ahead of your current position."

Shinji moved his Eva nimbly through the city streets, weaving between buildings at a deft pace.

"Stop at the next building. It is reinforced, and will make suitable cover for you to shoot the Angel from. Attach umbilical cable there."

Shinji obeyed, bringing the Eva to a halt and squatting down. He grabbed the extension beside him, and attached it to his back. The numbers beside him in the plug chamber that indicated battery reserves, which had counted down to 03:41:03, immediately reset themselves to 88:88:88. He looked behind him, and saw that he had lucked out, as the building at the back of his position had many windows. In the red light of the evening it was highly reflective, and he could make out the Angel on the other side of his position. He magnified the image, and was surprised to see the damage the N2 mine had caused. A new head was growing beside the ruins of a face. It was the same spherical beak construction as the previous head, and somehow made the being look menacing instead of wounded. There were some sort of gills that were opening and closing, showing pink tissue under the green hide. His presence had not seemed to cause the being to stir.

On the command deck, Misato looked to Naoko and Maya. "Any change?"

"The wave pattern from the Angel is still orange. It is inactive to the point of not producing a wave pattern blue. The Magi predict a 68 percent probability that most functions are being diverted to repairing damaged tissue. There is an 82 percent chance that it is engaged in passive surveillance of the area. Given the lack of change when the Eva approached, the chance of active surveillance is calculated at 23 percent. " Dr. Akagi turned back to the screens to monitor further data.

Misato hit her communication button again. "We think the Angel is still a sitting duck, Shinji. Unload a full barrage of gunfire when ready. Be prepared for retaliatory attacks."

Shinji studied the view in the reflections of the building, working out the position of the Angel, and allowing his brain to resolve the reverse mirrored image with what would actually be around the corner of the cover structure. He tensed, and there was a visible shift from Unit-01 as it prepared to spring into action.

On the bridge, an audible and steady tone sounded from Maya Ibuki's computer, and the color before her changed. "Wave Pattern Blue! Angel detected!"

Misato spoke to Shinji in alarm. "Abort Shinji. Get back to cover."

Shinji was already in the middle of spinning when Misato's frantic voice came over his comm. He tried to stop, but he was already committed to the maneuver. The best he could do was continuing the spin to a neighboring building. He pressed the trigger on the gun for good measure at the point where he would be facing the Angel. He saw its eyes glow white as it briefly made its way into his field of vision. The bullets flew towards the Angel, and then it was gone from his sight as he continued the spin to make it back behind a nearby building. He had almost made it when all he could see disappeared in a blinding white light. He felt the sympathetic feed that let him know that his Eva had taken a direct hit of some sort, and that he was flying through the air. The pain hit him as he felt himself suddenly stopped by his (Eva's) head crashing into a building.

In the control room, Shinji's scream flooded the audio feedback. Beside him, Kozo could see Yui tense. Her lip trembled. She looked to him, and the fear and horror on her face broke his heart.

"Send in Rei," she whimpered quietly.

Kozo wanted to hold and reassure her, but such was entirely inappropriate for the command staff of the bridge. "You know the writings, Yui. Give Gendo a chance. Sending Rei out might kill her."

Yui snapped her head back to the forefront quickly, and he could see the visible effort she made to turn her face back into an emotionless mask.

Below, Misato was demanding status updates. "Damage report?"

"Trauma to the head and upper right side of the body. Antennae array has been broken. The Angel scored a direct hit, and building 283-BA caused noticeable impact damage when the Eva crashed into it."

"Target is advancing on Unit-01 at high speed."

Misato turned back. "Shinji, get up. It's coming for you. Shinji!"

Shinji struggled in the cockpit, fighting through the pain to try and take action. He felt a sudden weight on his back from the sympathetic nerve feed as his Eva was slammed back into the ground.

The view on the monitors on the bridge was grim. The Eva had been struggling to find its feet. The Angel had leaped and landed on the back of Unit-01, which was immediately thrown back to the ground. The Angel secured Unit-01 by placing its weight on the Eva's back, and then put a hand to the back of its opponent's head. A glow lit the red twilight as a luminescent rod slid up from the Angel's elbow, and came crashing back down with force into the back of the Eva's head. The process repeated itself with mechanical efficiency.

"Damage sustained to the cranial casing. The casing has cracked!"

"Shinji! Get out of there! Deploy your A.T. Field." Misato shouted. Her only response was his screams. She turned to a nearby tech. "What's Rei's status?"

"Still unconscious. Should we induce a forced resuscitation?"

Misato was about to say yes, when the activities one the main screen distracted her. The Angel's attack had succeeded in piercing its way through the entire head of Unit-01. The glowing rod had gone into the back of Eva's head and came out through the left eye socket, and into the ground below. The skull had been skewered. Shinji's scream rose in volume, and filled the bridge briefly, until someone had the good sense to reduce the audio. The rod retracted. The Eva's head slipped off and landed forcefully on the ground. Shinji's anguished cries gave way immediately to silence.

"Eject the entry plug," Misato barked out.

"The Eva is refusing the command."

"What?"

"Major?" The tech she had been speaking with about Rei looked expectantly.

Misato turned back. "Yes, revive Rei."

"Belay the order," Fuyutsuki called down firmly. Misato turned back to look at the Commander in shock.

"Sir?" Misato spared a look at Sub-commander Ikari. The woman looked like she was going to break down right there.

Maya spoke up. "This can't be! The Eva has reactivated."

Naoko looked to the screen. "Pilot?"

"Unknown. We are not getting any signals from the plug suit or entry plug."

On the monitors, the purple Android was rising up on all fours. Wires trailed down from its broken horn, and something gelatinous had seeped from its damaged eye socket onto its cheek. Unit-01 bucked and threw the Angel off of its back and away. The Angel landed, and turned to the Eva with glowing eyes. The discharge of a beam weapon followed. The space in between the Eva and the Angel was immediately filled with concentric orange lines, and the beam's passage was stymied and dissipated to either side along the flat plane the lines created. There was a sudden snap as a cable flew into the air.

"A.T. Field deployed."

"A.T. Field has severed the Umbilical Line. Three minutes and thirty-eight seconds of reserve power remaining."

"An A.T. Field," Naoko muttered astonished. "You did it Shinji. We will win."

Unit-01 came running at the Angel quickly, and bounced off another field of concentric lines. There was a roar from the Eva, and its fingers began digging into the center point of the lines.

"It's visualizing the phase space."

"No, it's breaking through it!"

The lines dissipated with a roar from Unit-01 that accompanied a forced shredding of the barrier with its hands. The Eva was immediately on the Angel. The Angel's eyes glowed but were stopped by an immediate rip from the Eva's fingers, gouging and tearing as effectively as claws. The Eva squatted over its foe, and grabbed both arms in each one of its hands. It started pulling on them like they were parts of a wishbone, and the arms came out of socket almost simultaneously. The shoulders erupted with bluish-purple blood where the limbs had previously joined the rest of the body.

The Eva looked down in a growl, and its finger's gripped the red jewel-like object on the middle of the Angel's torso. The Angel's beady eyes turned in what might have been alarm towards the Eva. Its form became mercurial, and flowed around the Eva, working its way up to the head of Unit-01. An audible tearing of tissue filled the streets, and a round crimson item was tossed aside. The mercurial form of the Angel slid off the Eva, and Unit-01 lifted its head and howled in triumph. This continued for a short while, and then it stopped as it looked to a building. The side was nothing but windows. In the dusk the Eva seemed to contemplate its own image.

Below Fuyutsuki suddenly became nervous. Not turning to see Yui, he whispered to her. "Is he aware?"

Yui, who had thought the emotional roller coaster she had been on this day was almost over, put her hand up to her mouth in horror. "Oh Gendo."

The glass of the building shattered under a forceful punch. The Eva growled, and then started flailing its hands to the back of its lower neck.

"Oh God," Misato whispered. "Is Unit-01 attacking the entry plug?" More loudly she called, "Status of ejection attempt."

"Signal is continuing to be refused."

"Is Shinji… suicidal?" she wondered.

The Eva continued to claw at its own neck, and one hand ripped a piece of armor and threw it aside.

"Ejection signals?"

"Refused."

"Shutdown commands?"

"Refused."

"Battery reserves?"

"Seventeen seconds at full operational power."

Something else went flying from the back of Unit-01's neck, as it continued its course of self-mutilation. "Ulterior plug armor has been removed. The Entry Plug is exposed."

Unit-01 suddenly stopped, and studied its surroundings. Its eyes narrowed as it spied the red object it had ripped from the Angel. The item was lying in a city street some distance away. It immediately began to sprint for the article.

The thunderous run came to a halt just before Unit-01 had reached its objective, and the Eva came tumbling to the ground. It skidded past its target, and tore up asphalt as the collision with the ground slowed the slide. The Eva only stopped completely when it had crashed into a building. Unit-01 crumbled against the impediment like a rag doll, and lay as still as the dead.

On the bridge, things were returning to normal.

"Communication with entry plug restored."

"Ejection signal accepted. Plug safely ejected."

"Pilot's bio-signs confirmed."

"Eva Unit-01 has depleted its power. Life support and emergency plug loading systems are the only sources of inert electrical energy."

"Recovery crews have scrambled to plug landing site. Medical staff and Neurologist requested for possible complications with First Children."

"Request approved."

"Staff will be on site in one minute."

Kozo looked to Yui. "Go to your son. The situation has been resolved."

Yui spared him a worried smile, and made a hasty exit for the door. A pair of Section Two agents fell into step with her, one on each side.

Kozo looked back to the screen at the fallen Eva, and then again at the foci it had made its last sprint for. 'Gendo, you were always the ambitious one,' he thought.

Misato took a break from surveying the bridge to look up at the command staff. Yui was making her way off the command deck, and Kozo seemed almost… smug. She looked over to Dr. Naoko Akagi, who was busily going over some data with Ibuki on a monitor. She made her way over to the older woman.

"Doctor, I need a word."

Akagi looked up. "Now is not the best time, Captain."

"Now is a very good time, Doctor."

Naoko muttered something to Maya, and walked to the side with Misato. "What is it?"

"What just happened?"

Naoko sighed. "Something unexpected: I don't know yet. Just do your job for now, Captain, and we'll have the Magi sort this out. The important thing is we won. You struck a blow for your father today."

This seemed to sober Misato, who went to her station. She let her hand briefly clutch the white cross round her neck. She then returned to the business of post-operation cleanup.


	4. Scenario no Yui Chapter 3

**Author's notes**: A lot of people have asked about Ritsuko. I touched lightly on it here, but unfortunately I won't go into a lot of depth until later in the story. Suffice it to say she'll turn up somewhere you won't usually find her.

I do have a reason why Unit-01 acted the way it did. I'll probably go into that another time as well. I feel a progressive but slow revelation of information is in keeping with the original feel of the story, and want to try to maintain that as much as possible.

Fair warning: No big explosions in this chapter. It's more slice of life.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Gainax or Evangelion. I'm not even trying to pretend I do. I'm just writing for the fun of it.

**Chapter 3**

The feeling of weightlessness was soothing and familiar. The warm liquid enveloped her being, and no muscle existed in her body that still held tension. She opened her eyes slowly, seeing through slits that she was in an amber fluid. A white form was in front of her, and this caused her to take further notice. She saw the being floating before her, a thing of azure hair and creamy skin. It was a small child, and it grinned at her. The smile was vacant and mindless. Even in the temperate fluid she felt a shiver.

Other faces appeared now. All were the same face, though they showed various stages of maturation. She looked into the face of the oldest, a teenage girl. Laughter filled the container. She wanted to scream.

She began to awaken, and she felt fear for a moment. But all that filled her vision now was white ceiling tiles. She attempted to raise her head, and was rewarded with a headache that made her moan aloud. Her eyes squinted shut. When they reopened, Shinji's face was in front of her.

"Rei… Are you okay?"

"Shinji," she muttered, and draped her arms weakly around his shoulders in a feeble embrace. He returned the hug with more force.

"I need to get a doctor." Shinji turned to leave and felt her light and cold fingers clutching his palm. He turned back to see Rei's imploring gaze.

"Did we win?" He began to answer when she smiled. "Of course we did." She closed her eyes again, and faded back to slumber.

**xoxo xoxo**

Kozo and Yui were the focus of attention in a darkened room. She was standing, and he was sitting behind his desk. All around them were men in various shades of light. The men were only there as holographic images. The facsimiles were still enough to transfer their collective anger from various parts of the globe and into this room.

"The pilot's behavior at the conclusion of the battle was unacceptable."

"The Marduk Institute had better find a new candidate soon, because this First Children is a risk to our plans."

"He should be removed from active roster!"

Kozo held up a placating hand, "The First Children will be undergoing psychological evaluation as well as full session with a third party professional, per the Committee's requests. If he is found unfit to pilot, he will be used only contingent to a dire emergency."

"You dare propose he is fit for battle after the video footage we witnessed."

"Indeed," Fuyutsuki replied calmly.

"Absurd. He was engaged in suicidal actions. Not only would a successful attempt prove costly in the form of loosing a pilot, but the resources that are being funneled to Project E must be wasted on unnecessary repairs."

"If he is a hazard as a pilot, he will not be allowed to man the Eva. You have not only my word, but also my sense of self-preservation as an assurance to that. I have no interest in perishing in an Angel attack should it reach its goal."

"Get this under control, Commander." The person who spoke was a man illuminated by blue light. The five men disappeared.

A black rectangle reappeared in their place. The illuminated text on the slab proclaimed the object Seele-01.

"The Test Type was advancing on the S2 Organ. Should it have gotten it, the results would have been disastrous. If you do not maintain a firm grip on this situation, I will find someone who will." Then the monolith was gone. The lights of the darkened room flicked on.

Kozo grinned crookedly at Yui. "Keel is making personal threats now. He must be very agitated."

"They're bastards," Yui whispered. "I can't believe I let those scared old men ever woo me into the program."

Kozo got up. "It was a forgivable error. It set us on the road to making things right. Let's leave. We have plenty to do yet with Post-op, and you have a family to attend to."

**xoxo xoxo**

Naoko was busily typing away in her office when Misato put her head in through the door.

"Am I interrupting?"

"So long as my workflow continues, I can't see as we can label this a disruption. What's on your mind, Captain?"

"I heard that Rei was awake."

Dr. Akagi's typing continued at a furious pace. She did it almost absently as she answered Misato. "Yes. Shinji called the medical staff to alert them almost half an hour ago. She went to sleep again briefly, but is awake now."

Misato walked in, closing the door behind her, and sat comfortably at a chair on the other side of Dr. Akagi's desk. "I'm glad to hear it. Hopefully things will go smoother next time with two operational Evas."

"I'm not sure that we have achieved that luxury, Captain Katsuragi."

Misato rolled the chair back to the coffee machine, and poured herself a glass. Her attention fixed on Dr. Akagi, not sure if maybe the constant clatter of the keyboard had caused her to hear the last part wrong. "What does that mean?"

"Due to actions during battle with the Third Angel, it is unknown whether Unit-01 is stable enough to use during sortie, except as a last resort. We are still trying to determine whether the fault lies with the pilot or the Android."

"Are you saying that Shinji is being taken off the roster?"

"Perhaps. It is proposed that the First Children may have untapped psychological issues that have for some reason gone unnoticed until now. Or perhaps the shock of battle caused his unorthodox actions. We do not fully comprehend the nature of psychosomatic head trauma, and his brain could have tricked itself into deviant behavior. This case is unique, to say the least."

"Tell me that Rei's still good to pilot?"

"We are going to run a sync ratio test with Rei and Unit-00 to be sure her cranial injury caused no lasting effects, but there's no reason to think she won't be combat ready." Naoko moved her right hand to a mouse and clicked an icon twice on the screen. The screen showed loading bars, and then changed to a default desktop image. She hit several keys and the image shifted to a new graphic proclaiming the computer to be in 'Lockdown Mode.' She looked wearily to Misato. "Only twelve more reports to go, and then I can do the real work. I can't wait to see what spectral analysis turns up on the Angel's remains. I just hate that the fatigue is cutting into the excitement."

"I know. You think we'd get more staff to delegate this junk off on. I'm getting tired of the paper work."

"There are some things… that others can't be trusted to do for you."

Misato grimaced. She had stepped into a dark place without meaning to. To emphasize the point, Naoko asked, "How's Ritsuko, Misato?"

"She's well. She seems to be happy. One of her cats just had a litter." Misato stepped carefully through what she knew to be a minefield. She was still in contact with her old college friend, but everything was a little strained since she had quit Nerv. Misato had been placed under strict and plainly stated orders that she was not to divulge any information to non-employee personnel after Ritsuko had left, and she never had any doubt as to who the orders were referencing specifically. Apparently Naoko and Ritsuko hadn't spoken since Ritsu had resigned. Misato found herself occasionally being recruited as a go-between for the two women.

Misato took a sip of the coffee, and wanted to spit. What was this weak garbage? She placed the cup aside, and turned back to Naoko. Why not cut to the chase this time? "Dr. Akagi… it's not my business, but why don't you just call her?"

Naoko looked to the window, and Misato knew in her mind she was revisiting some dark memory concerning the two. "Because there are some things that cannot be taken back, Misato."

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," Naoko called out. The door opened, and Maya Ibuki was there. She was about to come in when she spied Misato and hesitated.

"It's fine. What do you have for me, Maya?"

"Actually, I was about to get lunch. I was going to see what your plans were, Sempaii."

"Oh, that reminds me," Misato got up quickly. She tossed the almost full cup into a trash receptacle. "I've got a meeting."

"Date?" Naoko asked, her eyes sparkling a little as she asked. She was getting up herself. She smoothed her red shirt and black skirt, and took her lab coat off the back of the chair to put it on.

"I wish. I'm just trying to cut through some bureaucratic red tape. No one wants us fighting with Eva in their neighborhood, even though this was one of the primary considerations that went into building this city. And don't get me started on reparations requests. I'm hoping we can get the city council to take some of the pressure off. "

"I hope so as well. Good luck Captain," Naoko called to the now rushing Misato. She turned back to Maya. "Are we doing the cafeteria? I'm not sure I can get off base with the workload we've got."

**Days later **

Shinji entered through the door, his nose reveling to the bliss of odors wafting in from the kitchen. "Mom?"

Alabaster features crowned with blue hair appeared at a tilt from the kitchen door. "I'm never your first guess, am I?"

Shinji nodded. "I always know it's you. I just like pissing you off."

Rei stuck out her tongue, and disappeared back into the kitchen. Shinji took off his shoes, and went to the bathroom to wash up. When he had returned to the kitchen, he found the table set, and the food was being brought over. "Nice." He looked again at the serving bowl. "Chicken?"

Rei smiled. "Our check, such as Aunt Yui allows us, came in. I could splurge. I figured you could use something with the creepy stuff you're going through."

Shinji nodded as he poured them both a glass of tea. "I swear if I have to answer another hypothetical question, or talk to some shrink who keeps asking questions and trying to make me babble, I really will go nuts. I should have never told them that one ink blot looked a little bit like a severed head."

"You what?"

"It was flash card number one hundred. I had to do something special."

"Shinji, that was stupid."

"You're telling me. I almost didn't convince the guy it was a joke. Thank goodness tomorrow is the last day."

Rei was silent for a moment as the two began eating, with the only source of conversation being Shinji's compliments concerning her cooking. Aunt Yui was a master cook, back when she had bothered to do such things, and it couldn't help but rub off. Her cousin's praises left her feeling happy, and she was unenthusiastic about breaking up such atmosphere.

Of course, the two had been together too long for him to not pick up on her reluctance to speak. Still, he had the decency to finish supper and help her clear the table before broaching the subject. As he turned around from the drainer, he regarded her. "So, what's on your mind?"

Rei looked to her feet nervously, and then sat back down. "The reactivation test for Unit-01 is in ten days."

Shinji nodded, and his whole disposition altered. "I know."

"I'm supposed to pilot Unit-00 in case… in case something goes wrong."

Shinji was silent. He knew what was going through her mind. It was the same as his own. They had both seen footage of the Angel attack, and Unit-01's subsequent actions.

"It'll go fine," Shinji finally spoke back up.

Rei looked to his face, wanting to believe him. And as anyone who has wanted to have faith in something bad enough can attest to, it is easy to accept assurances that one wishes to believe are true as being true. "Yeah. Yeah it will."

"Come on. We've got studies to catch up on. I start school again the day after tomorrow, and mom has been on you to bring up your history grade."

Rei was on her way to her room, and took the lead in as an opportunity to indulge herself in a well-visited rant. "I hate History. It's not like it's right. It wouldn't be so bad if the teacher didn't go on and on about the Second Impact. I almost put the fact that an Angel caused it as a quiz answer accidentally before I caught myself. I'd love to just to shake up the teacher's boring little lectures with the truth just once."

"If you do that, Section Two will pull you out of school for sure."

Rei made a noise that sounded like "Hmmm." She turned to her cousin and smiled.

"No Rei. No no no. It won't end as well as you think."

Rei ducked into her room, getting her textbooks. "Killjoy," she called back.

Shinji was coming out of his room with a massive stack of material. "Ever wonder if the class rep is just a little too thorough. We have to find her something to do."

**xoxo xoxo**

Kozo stroked the naked shoulder in front of him, and kissed it. He savored the smell of fruit shampoo and expensive perfume. "Beautiful," he whispered.

Yui giggled, and turned back around. She kissed his lips, letting the press of their flesh linger. "I thought people slowed down when the aged, Professor." She gave him a last kiss, and then pulled away. "No more. I have children waiting for me."

Kozo sighed. "No more. But there is something else."

"Always mixing business and pleasure." She picked up her undergarments from the pile on the floor and slipped them on. She then worked her way over to the chair where her clothing was laid neatly out. "What is it?"

"The Lance. My contact has found it."

Yui looked up. "Kaji?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, he cannot make his current delivery and secure the spear as well."

"So you're going?" Yui questioned him.

"Actually, I thought perhaps you should go."

Yui's face darkened. "Is this why you waited till now to say something?" She began buttoning her blouse now with angry, jerky movements.

Kozo started getting up himself, searching the remains of the pile and finding his clothing. "You're mad at Misato. Don't bother denying it, I know you too well."

"It never occurred to me to deny it."

"If I were to fetch the lance and leave the Captain and yourself to handle the next battle, do you think the command structure would be intact when I come back."

"It had better be. She's not irreplaceable Kozo."

"It's not just her. That is your son fighting out there, and Rei is every bit your flesh and blood as well. Could you sit idly by as she commanded them? As she ordered them to take actions you felt were unnecessarily dangerous?"

Yui was about to start arguing, but paused for a moment. Kozo loved her not for just her physical beauty, but for her pure heart and the keen intellect that swam underneath it all. She was able to put aside her emotions long enough to consider the situation. "I'm a liability."

"No. You are the one who keeps this all together. You are the hero and savior of mankind. You just happen to be a mother of children being placed in danger. To react in your heart other than how you do would make you less a person." He walked over to her and kissed her forehead. "We could both go."

"And leave Katsuragi in charge!" Yui said indignantly. "No thanks. I'll do it. Just keep watch over the children. If anything happens to them, I will blame you forever, Professor." She stared levelly at him to make sure the threat sunk in. When he finally gave way to a little squirming, she continued. "How secure is the Spear of Destiny? Can it wait until Shinji has had his reactivation test?"

Kozo shrugged. "I'm not sure."

Yui nodded. "It shouldn't wait then. I'll leave tomorrow night. Tonight, I'll make preparations. Now, I've got to go home."

**xoxo xoxo**

Misato tossed the empty cup of curry noodles in the general vicinity of the garbage can, and walked to the refrigerator. She pulled out another can of beer and opened it. She gulped it down, and let out a hoot.

It was enough to make the apartment less lonely. For a moment.

She grumbled. She was a good-looking and successful woman. And here she was, drinking alone. Despite the solace she could take from her job, possible the most important duty any human on this planet was performing, thank you very much, she was drinking alone.

She looked to a drinking bowl on the ground. With mischievous glee, she cracked another beer and poured it into the dish.

"Oh Pen Pen," Misato called out in a singsong voice.


	5. Scenario no Yui Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**- I don't own Gainax or Eva.

**Chapter 4**

Shinji rolled his eyes. It was time for the Second Impact lesson again.

He let his mind drift back to the teary farewells with his mom. He and Rei were going to stay at the house by themselves for a while. Commander Fuyutsuki would drop by or send personnel to make sure the two were doing well while she was gone on company business.

The Angel attacks had barely begun, and he was already yearning for them to be over. The way his life had drifted away from normal lately was a major nuisance.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a blinking on the screen.

'Are you the pilot of the giant robot?'

The words flashed on the screen of Shinji's notebook computer. He looked around, but the students were showing various stages of coma and boredom. No one looked suspicious.

Why not? This class was boring.

'Yes'

"What." "He's the pilot." "It is him." The voices jumbled together, and a crowd formed around Shinji's desk. He was being drilled by twenty different voices. The class rep looked on disapprovingly. The teacher plodded forward with the lesson, writing with his back turned, and amazingly not catching the commotion around Shinji's desk.

He felt a hand grab him by the shirt collar. "You. Outside." Shinji's legs pumped quickly to keep him from being drug as someone forcefully pulled him out the door and tossed him on the ground.

Shinji looked up to see a boy in a black jumpsuit in front of him. Touji Suzahara his brain supplied helpfully. Shinji only knew the boy peripherally. He was something of a jock.

"Are you really the pilot of that robot?"

"What's it to you?" Shinji got up, brushing himself off. His left foot slipped back perpendicular and slightly behind the right. He allowed an arm to drift up so that he could easily shift into a fighting stance.

"Because I'm going to rearrange your face." Touji's swing was full of power, but he broadcast the move and gave Shinji plenty of time to step aside. The punch wasn't even close.

"I hope you have help."

Touji's already angry face contorted in pure rage. "My sister is in the hospital, because the idiot pilot of that robot hurt her. Not the Angel, the pilot. She's been hurt bad. The doctors don't know if she'll wake up. What sort of moron tries to kill the people he's protecting?"

Shinji paused a moment. He had heard that there were casualties from the combat action, but those were just numbers. He hadn't thought about them. He hadn't wanted to. It was hard enough just knowing it happened. But here was a living flesh and blood representative for the people that had been injured. Even better, it was because of actions directly related to him.

He let his hands slip down. The next punch caught him directly in the sternum, and he clutched his chest in pain. His vision was filled with stars as another punch caught him between the eyes.

Shinji closed his eyes, waiting for the barrage of strikes that never came. There was a loud 'omph' sound ahead of him. He looked, and saw Touji lying with his stomach to the ground. Rei was over him, a knee planted firmly in his back and twisting the boy's right arm up almost to his head.

"Stupid tomboy, get off of me," Touji said angrily, wriggling under Rei's hold.

"Shinji has military training in hand to hand combat. If you are beating him in a fight, then it is either because you also have training, or he is letting you. I would say from what I'm seeing now he was letting you. I'm not letting Shinji take a whipping because you guilt-tripped him into it."

"Let him up Rei," Shinji called out.

Rei brought her knee up from where it was digging into Touji's back. She released the boy and stepped away. Touji turned around, his black jumpsuit dirty. He stared evilly at Shinji. "Letting a girl fight for you."

"Seemed to work," Shinji quipped quickly. Touji fumed, and started stomping away.

"Touji Suzahara. Rei and Shinji Ikari. Come here right now." The old teacher was standing in the doorway Touji used to exit with Shinji.

"Yes, sir," they replied in unison.

And that was how the trio found themselves standing out in the hall, holding pails of water.

"Why would you tell Kensuke you were a pilot?" Rei was whispering at Shinji.

"I didn't know who it was," he replied in a low voice.

Rei stared at him for several moments, her steady gaze only interrupted by a blink.

"I was bored."

"You knew Shinji was a pilot," Touji interjected the question at Rei, also being careful to keep his voice down. "Of course you did. You guys are like brother and sister."

"Cousins," Shinji amended helpfully.

Rei looked to Touji with disdain. "We weren't talking to you." She turned back to Shinji. "So you told someone you didn't know you were a pilot because you were… bored."

"It doesn't sound very smart when you say it that way."

"Wait a minute. Is Rei a pilot?" Touji interjected. He was met with another look from Rei that let him know what she thought of him. She looked back to Shinji as well to stop him from saying anything.

And then the sirens sounded.

Shinji and Rei looked back into the room. "Teacher?"

"Yes, you may go. Touji come back in. Now everyone follow Miss Horoki, and hold hands. You all know the way to the shelter.

**xoxo xoxo**

Misato came running into the bridge. "Status report?"

"A wave pattern blue was detected at 13:36. It came in from Southerly coastal waters."

"This Angel has demonstrated capacity to fly. Arms are projecting an unknown energy pattern. It may be similar to weaponry sported by the Third Angel."

"What's the status of Unit-00?"

"The Second Children has just arrived, and the Eva is being prepped for launch."

"Did the reactivation test show any evidence of unusual synch ratio?" Misato looked over to Ibuki's station.

"Second Children only showed a 0.83 percent decrease in synch ratio. This is well within the protocol for normal deviance."

"What is the status of Unit-01?"

"Pilot will be in plug but not injected, except as a last resort. These are the Commander's direct orders."

Kozo looked down, and everyone found something to busy themselves with, hoping activity would take his gaze off of them.

"Unit-00 is ready for launch."

Misato established the link with the cockpit. "This angel is using some sort of energy whips in place of its arms. Thus far this is its only known means of attack, though we cannot take that for granted. Given our limited data, I'm going to suggest trying to soften the target from a distance."

"Understood," Rei replied.

"Launch Eva."

Rei braced as she went rocketing up the launch rail. Before she reached the surface, she had one last flash of the video footage of Unit-01 digging through its own armor and attacking the entry plug.

Then it was all gone as the light blue giant slammed up into the cityscape above. Rei wasted no time in attaching an Umbilical Cable.

"It started moving for you while you were being launched. It's close to your position. Grab the Automatic," Misato ordered. Just ahead of her a building unfolded to reveal a weapons array. Rei reached for the gun and withdrew it. She jumped back as she saw a blur of pink energy. The building she had just been retrieving weapons from was slashed into five separate pieces. One of the glowing whips must have caught ordinance, because there was an explosion. Unit-00 jumped back, and brought the gun to bear. As smoke cleared she could see the angel before her now. It had a long crimson body, and a head that was almost squid-like. It was bending at what seemed like the neck. Beneath the overhang of the head she could see an S2 organ. On either side of the burgundy frame were two glowing pink tentacles. The tentacles seemed to be able to slice through buildings like wet paper.

Leveling her gun at the S2 organ, Rei unloaded gunfire. The Angel inclined its head slightly to catch the brunt of the spray of bullets. It whipped out the glowing limbs again, and Unit-00 took another leap back. Rei repeated the attack again with little effect.

On the command deck, Kozo looked on in wonder. This time two of the bullets scored glancing blows off of the S2 organ. The Angel could have deployed an AT Field and stopped even that minimal damage. Were the Angels being sporting?

Rei prepared to jump back again. She looked and noticed that if she took another leap backwards she would overextend the length of her current umbilical line. In her hesitation, the Angel solved the dilemma for her. A pink lash wrapped around her leg, and severed the umbilical line in one smooth motion. With a quick flick it threw Unit-00 to a nearby hill, well away from any power outlets. Rei lost control of the gun somewhere in the course of the flight.

Unit-00 crashed into the ground. Earth churned up around it as it made a slight slide. Rei was beginning to get up again when she noticed something off the corner of her view screen. She zoomed in her view screen to find that two boys from class, Touji Suzahara and Kensuke Aida, were between Unit-00's legs. They looked ashen-faced from fear.

"Misato!" Rei called.

"Who the Hell are they?" Misato asked Naoko.

"Magi have made facial recognition matches with two of the Children's classmates."

The Angel had floated over, and now whipped out its tentacles again. Rei brought an arm over the two boys below to shield them, and with the other attempted to deflect the worst of the assault.

The Eva's armor was stripped off in pieces. A whimper came over the intercom as Rei felt the pain feedback from the attacks. When the Angel attacked again Unit-00 lashed out and grabbed both of the stinging tentacles. Even in her cockpit Rei could smell the odor of roasting flesh. Her hands were aflame with the sensation.

"Eject the entry plug to three-quarters insertion level," Misato called out.

Out on the field, the plug ejected, and Misato's voice rang out on an outside speaker. "You two, get in."

Touji looked at Kensuke, who looked to be in the midst of rapturous joy. The Angel jerked against the Eva's grip, and that made his mind up. He climbed up the armor and towards the entry plug.

Naoko was about to stop Katsuragi. The Captain didn't know that all of the potential pilots were in that class. There was no telling what having two more prospective candidates in a cockpit together with Rei might do, but she couldn't imagine it was anything good. Naoko spared a glance at the command deck. Kozo was looking at her, and shook his head. Frowning, she turned back around to her display.

Inside the plug, the identity of the pilot surprised the one of the two boys. Kensuke muttered unbelievingly, "Rei?"

"Told ya," Touji chimed in.

She grunted in pain. With teeth clenched, she tilted to the side in her seat. The eva spun and threw the Angel away.

"Synch ratio has dropped from 28 percent to 15 percent. The Eva is barely accepting the pilot."

"There's too much interference. Rei, return to base. We need to regroup."

Rei looked down at the angel. She could rush it. She still had over a minute of power left.

That was cutting it too close. The Captain was right; she needed to head back.

Rei scurried to the closest launch bay in the city. She reattached her Eva to the launch clamps and allowed Unit-00 to go into freefall. As she approached the Geofront level the clamps locked against the rails. Metal screeched as the Eva came to a steady stop.

"Eject the entry plug," Misato called out. "Send security to retrieve the two noncoms."

Rei was looking at her hands and flexing them. They still burned. They felt as if they were being held against an oven eye. Except that if she thought about it hard enough, the ache wasn't really there. Those blessed moments of revelation were too short and few.

Touji put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Rei looked back at him. Pain and anger laced her words. "Get out!"

The door opened overhead, and the two scrambled out of the plug. It was quickly reinserted.

"Synch ratio back up to 28 percent," a tech on the bridge called out.

"Rei, the angel is about to breach a surface building. You would likely bypass it if you were launched to the surface. Wait to intercept here."

"Understood."

"There is another Umbilical Cable West-Northwest of your position at approximately 200 meters. Be careful. Umbilical stations are scarce down here."

Misato turned to Naoko. "We need a way to neutralize the Angel's energy limbs. It has to be something that immobilizes them, and lets Unit-00 close in for hand-to-hand maneuvers."

Naoko racked her brain for a moment. "Bakelite."

"You have some outside of the testing area?"

"There are auxiliary tanks in Sector G-15. There's enough to fill half the building."

"What would… never mind. Rei, do you read me?"

"Yes Captain."

"Bring the Angel to the Southwest corner of the command building. We have Bakelite there, and I want to try something."

"Understood."

Overhead, the pink extremities of the Angel sliced through the foundation of a building. Amid a rain of rubble, the Angel floated down into the Geofront. It came straight for the Eva. Luring it into the desired position was easy.

"Place yourself close to the tanks. Make sure you are between the Angel and the containers. When it attacks, take evasive action. Be sure to get some distance."

No sooner had Rei gotten Misato's orders than the tentacles came slashing in again. They formed a crisscross pattern to intercept Unit-00. Rei jumped at the last second, barely dodging the tentacles to the right. She hit the ground and leaped back again. This time when she landed, she turned back to examine the Angel.

So far the plan had worked. The Bakelite was being kept under pressure and was spraying out of the tanks where the energy arms of the Angel had cut them. The squirting liquid was erupting on anything close to the tanks. Some had splashed on various parts of the Angel, but by and far the majority of it spewed onto the arms. The appendages were now turning a glowing orange from the coverage of Bakelite over the luminescent energy. The ends of the whip-arms were slowly coming out of the tanks, but not with enough force or speed to free them from the metal canisters.

"Allow fifteen seconds for the chemical to harden. Then close and try to pierce the S2 organ with the prog knife."

Rei winced from sympathetic tenderness as she closed the Eva's hands on the progressive knife that ejected from her shoulder holster. Still, adrenaline was flooding her system as she prepared to reenter the battle, and this made the throbbing easier to push aside.

The Angel jerked back and seemed caught on something. It heaved again. The sound of metal tearing loose from supports could be heard like fingernails running down a chalkboard. The Angel's efforts finally resulted in its freedom. One arm came back with a tank full of Bakelite on the end of it.

Rei looked to her clock, and saw the time was up. She could see the once flexible arms freezing into shapes all along their lengthy outline. She rushed forwards, and stopped in a spread-legged stance before the suddenly exposed opponent. She braced her feet in the ground below the Angel, and drove up the prog knife with all the strength she could muster.

The knife almost slipped off of stray Bakelite that had formed a light crust over the S2 organ. With a grunt of exertion she pushed her Eva for more strength, and the knife pierced through. Rei started pulling down on the knife, and sparks flew from the gouge in the Angel's core.

One of the Angel's arms whipped back and then forth again. It was the appendage with the Bakelite tank, and it knocked the Eva away from it. Unit-00 managed to keep a grip of the prog knife, but was unable to respond quickly enough as the arm came down and split the tank on the Eva. Orange fluid seeped onto the front of the Eva's head and upper body.

"Unit-00 has been coated in Bakelite."

"Unit-00 will become unresponsive along the upper torso in less than twenty seconds."

Misato looked over to another monitor. "Prepare Unit-01. We may have to sortie Shinji." She turned her attention back to Rei.

"Rei, you need to pull out."

Outside, Unit-00 reached up a blackened hand and wiped the orange substance from its single eye. "I can do this."

Misato was about to order her back. She looked to a tech. "Can the plug be ejected?"

"Ulterior plug casing does not seem to have been exposed to Bakelite spray. Ejection is possible."

"Okay Rei. Do it."

Unit-00 stood, and stared at the Angel. The arm of the Angel was more rigid now, and it rose into the air stiffly. The length of the arm guaranteed that when the end of it hit, the damage would be substantial. Rei reversed the grip of the knife in her hand. Unit-00's hand came flying out. The knife blade went spinning through the air. It buried into the S2 organ up to the handle. There was a crack, and the Angel remained frozen in place. One rigid arm was going back to the tanks, and another was stretching to the ceiling with the Bakelite reservoir hanging off the end of it like a club.

Unit-00 stood across from the Angel, with arm extended and an orange waxy substance seeming to drip off of it. The Bakelite casing had frozen its upper torso, and Rei kept the Eva in place, reluctant to move.

"Target has gone completely silent."

Misato looked around the bridge and smiled. She activated the plug feed. "That was a Hell of a shot, Rei. Good work. Eject your entry plug, and report to debriefing."


	6. Scenario no Yui Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**- I don't own Gainax or Eva.

I extend a special thank you to Cyber Undead, who did a phenomenal job of proofreading. The story is better for your efforts. I extend my heartfelt appreciation.

**Chapter 5**

Kozo was seated behind his desk in his office. The ceiling still sported the Sephirothic System that Gendo had added to the décor ten years ago. Kozo had always admired the man's sense of style, and hadn't seen the need to change it. He looked to his office door. There had been a knock, and, in Kozo's experience, this was never the prelude to a happy event. He visually checked himself one last time to be sure he was presenting a stern image.

"Enter."

Naoko came in, stomping at an angry pace. She still had the presence of mind to close the door, which was something given how she looked. As soon as she had secured their privacy, she turned to Kozo. "Commander, what the Hell was that about this afternoon?"

"You'll have to be more specific, Dr. Akagi."

Naoko crossed her arms. There was still an undercurrent of anger tingeing her words, but she was decidedly more careful with her language now. "Our Director of Operations, who is third in line in the command hierarchy for this organization, is being denied key information that is instrumental in making sound decisions during a battle. What possible benefit is there to keeping Misato in the dark?"

Kozo opened a drawer on his desk, and pulled a folder out. He handed the file to Naoko. "Review this for a moment, Dr. Akagi."

Naoko frowned, but opened the folder and started thumbing through pages. She looked back to Kozo in alarm. "I assume you know what this is."

Kozo nodded. "The Magi system is based upon a very particular genetic strain fabricated within laboratory conditions. This is so that there will not be contamination from a genetic donor. It is dependent on 9 base pairs of chromosomes since the only biological function required is the creation of neural cells and any directly supportive systems, which are still minimal and augmented by human add-ons."

Naoko was still working through the report. "I made a proposal for a system based on 10 chromosomal pairs. Caspar has had two separate incidents of cancer colonies since its creation. I also asked for additional materials in the hopes curing further errors in any cellular regenerative process."

"Someone took you seriously."

Naoko closed the file and laid it back on the desk. "There is an astronomical amount of biological components requested according to that sheet. It would be enough to make seven different Magi Systems. And they would have the benefit of using all of the latest research, whereas our present system has only received OS and software enhancements since it came online a decade ago."

"I don't have to tell you what the cost of such a thing would be."

"It's higher than the yearly earnings of your average country. The committee sanctioned this?" Naoko frowned. "They are looking for alternative sources from which to fight the war with the Angels."

Kozo nodded. "If we do not proceed carefully, we will find ourselves as reserves in the war. This cannot be allowed to happen. In the future, the Magi and Evas will be tools, by which emerging superpower-nations can build empires. The only way we can keep the Valentine's Day Treaty intact is to be sure we are ahead of the curve."

"Captain Katsuragi would understand this, Commander."

"Captain Katsuragi has an old flame; Kaji Ryoji. She is about to come back into contact with him. Unfortunately, he reports directly to the committee. She could reveal sensitive information, unaware that she is doing so. It is imperative that her exposure to such data is minimal. Our control of the Marduk Institute can easily become a leak for them to grasp."

Naoko tapped a finger to her mouth, considering things. "By keeping the Marduk Institute under our control, we keep the viable pilots limited, so we are still in the driver's seat. We control the influx of all pilots, save for the dummy plug components."

Kozo nodded. "So you see why I requested an alteration in the research of the Dummy Plug cores."

Naoko nodded. "I thought that when you asked for the components to be shifted from receiving raw pilot data to full psychological profiles, it was because you were attempting to enhance their piloting abilities. But if they are all perfect copies of Rei…"

"Then they may be subservient to us. At the very least, it means anyone wishing to utilize the Dummy Plugs will have to expend a noticeable amount of time with brainwashing and psychological reprogramming."

Naoko looked around a little worried. "Have there been any requests for Dummy Plugs yet?"

"No. Unit-00's piloting-core intel has been sufficient for any needs thus far. But it's not long in coming."

"I should destroy them," Naoko said matter-of-factly. Her voice held no vehemence as she made the proclamation. "They're too dangerous. I do not want to fight the war with the Angels, just to have some egghead in a foreign nation trigger Third Impact."

This had long been a fear held by Kozo and Yui as well. With Rei being a derivative in large part of Lillith, it was feared that a synch ratio approaching 100 percent with an Evangelion might result in individual breakdown, and they weren't sure if it would be limited to Rei if it did occur. As it was now, she was safe for piloting Unit-00, but the core was constantly monitored. If Rei's synch-ratio increased beyond acceptable levels, the core would be modified so that Rei became less compatible with the Eva.

They could not scuttle the Dummy Plug program without receiving intervention from what Naoko only knew of as the committee, and what Kozo knew was Seele. Control was their only weapon as the prophecies unfolded. Without the ability of Yui and him to intercede, mankind was doomed to extinction. Naoko thought that mankind would fall into an Evangelical arm's race. He knew there was no luxury of time for humanity to make that error.

Kozo rubbed his hand against his temples before letting it back down. The headaches were about to start again soon. "How is the Dummy Plug program advancing?"

"As you know, I have used caution in keeping Rei from knowing what the persona downloads are really about. She is informed that the sessions are to enhance her synch ratio, so that she can catch up with Shinji. And I think that, on a conscious level, she believes this. But she knows something else is going on. I believe she is able to sense the dummy plug components. Our understanding of her Angelic heritage is limited, and she may be making contact in a way we cannot monitor."

"And attempts to copy her personae?"

Naoko sighed. "Those have been frustrating. We tried it with a clone two days ago. As you know, it became suicidal. It beat its head into the glass until it induced cranial trauma. The dosage of chemicals required to sedate it was in excess of four times what it should have been."

Kozo sighed. "Keep it up. I believe we lessen the chances for accidents of an Angelic nature concerning Rei or her 'sisters' by cultivating her humanistic aspects. Only a direct personality overwrite can ensure this happens in the short term."

"And we go on keeping Captain Katsuragi in the dark?"

"It doesn't make me happy, but we must. Humanity's fate may rest on Misato Katsuragi's ignorance."

**xoxo xoxo**

On a road leading to her apartment, Misato pulled her Renault over as she was seized by an attack of sneezing.

**xoxo xoxo**

The control room in the test area was bustling with activity. On the other side of the room's observation window was the looming purple giant, which was the focus of the test. Unit-01 was hunched over, docile in appearance, but menacing nonetheless. Cables ran from various parts of the Eva's body in an attempt to ensure that the sensor blackout that had occurred in the previous battle would not be repeated here.

The elephant in the room, which everyone was refusing to acknowledge, stood beside Fuyutsuki. All the bridge staff knew of this man was that he had been given incredible access to Nerv operations. A few techs had speculated that the man was a U.N. inspector on sight to oversee the test. The guess was not far off the mark. They could not know that this middle-aged man in a professional cut black suit would be reporting the results of this test to the man who hoped to shape the human race into a new being of his own design. Keel Lorenz would soon know the truth of Unit-01's berserk actions.

Shinji sat nervous in the LCL, waiting for the test to start. Naoko's image flashed on a holo-screen and appeared to his upper left. "I know you're anxious Shinji. I won't lie to you. We all are. But this is a test we've run almost ten times before the Angels came along. Everything is going to be fine."

"Unit-01 didn't try to manually rip out the entry plug in the last few tests."

"You suffered some bad sympathetic pain during that battle, and it affected your actions. That's all Shinji. You're going to be all right. You've just got the jitters, and I don't think anyone could blame you for that."

Shinji nodded. "Consider me soothed doctor. I'm not, but I feel a little better."

Naoko smiled. "That's something. I've got to see to something here, but don't hesitate to use the link if you need me."

The holo-image disappeared, and was replaced immediately by a link to Rei. Her short hair floated unnaturally in the air, and with the white head clips, it was obvious she was inside her plug.

"Nervous?"

"You had to ask?" Shinji retorted.

"Anything I can do to help?"

"How about seeing if they'll put some big catcher's mitts on this thing's hands? It won't go clawing and destroying itself with those."

"In this age of super science, the technology driving the mystery that is the big catcher's glove continues to elude Nerv. Plus, it's kind of a lame idea. I've got first hand experience with the Bakelite they've got ready to soak your Eva with if it starts behaving badly. It's great stuff: goes from taffy to concrete in less than half a minute."

"I can still see traces of that stuff on Unit-00."

"I know. It feels weird, especially in the joints. It's like having sand in your bathing suit after you go to the beach.

On the bridge, Naoko was looking from monitor to monitor. "She's doing a good job of calming him."

Two video feeds showed Unit-01 in Test Area 2 and Unit-00, which was in an adjacent Test Area 3. If, for some reason, Unit 01 went rogue, and the Bakelite proved insufficient to contain it, Rei would try to subdue the android with Unit-00. She was already in her Eva, and her synch ratio was a steady 29 percent.

"Shinji, prepare for insertion."

"Yes, Doctor," he called out.

In Test Area 2, the white cylinder of the plug made a clockwise turning motion as it disappeared in the Eva's back.

"Synch Ratio is holding at 34 percent. This is a significant reduction to previous tests."

"Magi estimate with a 73 percent probability that the pilot is withholding full synch attempt through conscious and/or subconscious methods."

"That's fine," Dr. Akagi stated. "We'll work on getting the synch ratio back up after this test."

Data continued to come in from the Eva, but the atmosphere became slightly more relaxed after a few minutes, when nothing ominous had happened.

Dr. Akagi had just about gotten all the information she needed when she noticed Commander Fuyutsuki. The man in the black suit leaned in and whispered something. Kozo whispered back, and the two talked quietly for a moment. Then Kozo spoke up.

"Are you ready to conclude the test doctor? Specifically, do you have all the input you require from Unit-01?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"Very well. Increase the LCL pressure to induce unconsciousness in the pilot."

"Commander, did I hear you correctly?"

Kozo spared a quick glance at the man in the black suit beside him and turned back to her. "Do it, Doctor."

Naoko turned to Maya. "Increase LCL pressure by 200 percent."

"Yes, Sempaii," Maya said, and tapped a few keys.

Shinji slumped over in his plug as air came rushing out of his mouth and into the LCL in the form of large bubbles. The tension that had been easing on the bridge was back. The moment stretched, with no activity.

Then, a buzzer rang out. All heads shifted to Aoba Shigeru, whose station was emitting the noise. He turned around, slightly embarrassed by the panicked expressions turned his way. He turned off the alarm and called out, "The pilot has lost synch ratio."

Outside of this incident, events progressed with little interruption. Unit-01 did nothing, just as one would expect.

Another minute passed, and Kozo finally spoke. "This concludes the test."

**xoxo xoxo**

A few days later found Kozo in Terminal Dogma with Yui and Naoko. The two women were decidedly ill at ease around each other. They stood on a platform overlooking a floor covered with LCL. Across the room, a white giant was nailed to a colossal red cross. A mask with seven eyes covered its face.

"I didn't think he was ever going to leave," Kozo was saying. "Keel is a clever one. I thought everything was over when he suggested knocking out Shinji."

"How is he?" Naoko asked Yui.

"Shinji is fine. He was glad to miss school. He might start requesting you knock him out every time he goes into the plug, just for that purpose. Don't humor him of course."

"I wouldn't think of it," Naoko said. She turned to look down into the pool of LCL. "Is that going to be enough?"

"Yes, it should do," Kozo said. They were all looking to the dark greenish-gray sludge floating in a collected lump in the sea of amber fluid. The substance represented over half of the salvaged remains of the Third Angel.

Yui nodded. "So, the moment of truth." Naoko leaned in to get a better glimpse.

Yui held up a covered object. The cloth was slowly unwrapped from a stick-like item. Revealed, as the fabric came off, was a shaft with an intricate spearhead attached to the end. It was a study in complexity, as the head actually appeared to be composed of five separate sections. Most of the sections were merely elaborations added to the central piece. Kozo took the spear from Yui and held it up in the light.

"The Lancea Longinus. Said to have brought water and blood from the body of God's son. It is the only earthly object of antiquity that we know of that may have caused injury to the divine. It is said that the person who holds this," Fuyutsuki lifted the spear in one hand for emphasis, "has the power to conquer the entire world, though the Spear of Destiny has a tendency to escape the grasp of any who would wield it."

"It's… breathtaking," Naoko said in awe.

"Will this work?" Yui asked, indicating the Angel's remains below.

"A relic is a holy object. It is infused with the power of the Almighty. Since the Angel's remains are formless and without conscious direction, we can use this to suggest a new shape to the material of the heavenly messenger."

Kozo held forth a hand, letting the spear maintain its position before the trio for just an instance. Then, he released it.

The lance went falling in a lazy manner, the shaft staying parallel to the lake of LCL below it. It hit the ruins of what had once been a being in God's presence, formed from the void as His envoy to mankind. The spear rested in the surface of the gray-green material, and then slowly sunk into the mercurial remains.

The partial corpse of Sachiel, the Third Angel, went through a metamorphosis. The matter became fluid, and flowed into a long cylinder. A relic that had only existed on the scale of a man became transposed to the realm of giants. The new shaft was well over a hundred meters in size, and maintained the same color as the Angel it had come from. The head of the sphere was relatively larger, even given the proportion of scale.

The white giant turned its head, from where it had been hanging docilely, towards the new object. Even as it regarded the enhanced relic, the white giant's legs began to droop and flow off. The first one separated slowly, dropping with long, stringy strands that fought to keep the limb connected to the body to no avail. The next leg was quick behind it.

In the amber fluid, the spearhead at the end of the shaft unformed. It seemed to unwind, and separate forks took shape parallel to each other. The Lance, under its own volition, went flying out of the orange-tinged lake and into the heart of the white giant. The masked face rolled back to the side again in an apparent loss of muscular rigidity. The deterioration of the giant's body stopped.

Kozo smiled, and looked over to Yui. "Success."


	7. Scenario no Yui Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**- I don't own Gainax or Eva.

Thanks to Cyber Undead for proofreading. I can't emphasize enough how much better the story I tell is because of his hard work. My gratitude is extended for his efforts on this story.

**Chapter 6**

Makoto Hyuga and Aoba Shigeru were in the bathroom, washing their hands.

"I'm just saying, she's cute," Makoto was stating what he felt was obvious.

"Forget it; she's your commanding officer."

"I'm not saying 'that.' I'm just saying she's cu…"

"They're all cute," Aoba interjected. "Misato, Miya, Yui, and even Naoko… you know, for an older woman."

"Yui's an older woman."

"Yeah, but she carries it better. She doesn't need a disclaimer."

Makoto shifted his eyes to the left and right, as if someone else could be in the bathroom and the two be unaware of it. It was a classic conspiratorial opening. "Did you hear about Naoko and the tech from the Eva cage?"

"What? No, I guess not."

Makoto lowered his voice. "Rumor has it she was going out with him, and he dumped her. Well, you know how the Magi monitor and relegate almost all the automated functions of Tokyo-3."

Aoba nodded, but didn't speak, preferring instead to let Makoto continue. "All of the sudden, this guy's life turned into a mess. Some of the stuff that happened to him was along the lines of childish pranks. Things like the shower water going from freezing to scalding all the time. Utility companies constantly canceling his services. It kept getting a little more severe though. One time, when he tried to swipe his pass to come into Nerv, his I.D. and retinal patterns turned up results for a wanted criminal. When Section Two investigated, there were no signs of the man's original identity in the system. It took them a week to sort out the mess. And then, one day, the guy was just gone. Poof. A few of his friends thought he ran. But no one's seen him since or heard from him."

"She didn't… kill him?"

Makoto shrug. "No one knows. Guy just dropped off the face of the Earth."

Aoba grabbed a handful of paper towels and dried his hands. "I feel like we should be roasting marshmallows over a campfire while you tell that. Still, you have to admit, all the women on the bridge look nice."

Makoto smiled. "Some more than others, but yeah. Makes you wonder if Commander Fuyutsuki staffed this place with some idea of making a personal harem."

Just then, the sound of a toilet flushing came from the end of the room. The sides and doors of the stalls came down almost to the floor, so the two had had no idea of the fact that anyone was in here. Behind Shigeru, the sound of a door creaking open was easily heard, and Makoto visibly paled. His fellow tech looked like a woodland creature staring into a vehicle's headlamps.

Fuyutsuki did not regard the men as he walked to the sink and washed his hands. The two stood frozen, not sure of what to do. Deciding that fleeing was the best means of avoiding an awkward situation, Aoba made for the door. Makoto was with him.

"Gentlemen," the voice called from the sink. The duo froze, and turned in dread.

Fuyutsuki looked at the two severely. "I've always found that gossiping is nonconductive to a sense of team work. Do you think this is accurate?"

"Yes, sir," they both said, almost in unison, and with more than a little enthusiasm.

"Good. I like for my bridge to be filled with team-oriented people."

Makoto gulped. "Us too, sir."

Kozo smiled. "Excellent. I'll see you men on the bridge."

"Yes, sir," Makoto said, with Aoba quickly chorusing the same.

The two left in a rush. After the door had closed, Kozo chuckled lightly to himself as he threw away his paper towels.

**xoxo xoxo**

"So, how do you like the dress?" Shinji was asking his cousin. They ambled along at a lazy pace. The morning air felt good. Both were in their school uniforms.

"I love it! I just don't know what I can wear it to. The stupid synchronization tests are burning up my free time. You think they would give us some leave from school since we are piloting giant robots against monsters attacking the human race." This was a complaint Rei had visited often lately. Knowing she ran the danger of becoming a grump, she avoided the line of conversation altogether. "So, how about you? Aunt Yui got you that new SDAT."

Shinji patted his pocket. "It's awesome. Mom has a good eye for cutting edge technology. The Europeans aren't ahead of us on developing miniature playback devices, but they have an excellent ear for music. I'm just glad she's back from her business trip." Shinji had a thoughtful pause before he went on. "You know she buys us this expensive stuff because she feels guilty about leaving us."

Rei nodded in response. "So does it ever make you feel bad to take this stuff?"

"Not in the slightest. She's the head of a super rich organization. She probably writes off everything as traveling expenses. Besides, mom is probably loaded. I imagine we live well below our means."

"What's that?" Rei interrupted, pointing ahead of them.

Shinji looked to where his sister was indicating. A figure was standing in the path they were taking to school, with another off to the side. He squinted his eyes and could make out a black jump suit. "Oh brother."

"Suzahara," Rei said disgustedly. She gazed at Shinji. Touji's sob story about his sister being injured had really gotten to him last time. He was such a softy. Well, if it were up to her to keep her cousin from being picked on, she would protect him. The two walked in silence until they reached the duo.

"I gotta settle things between us, Ikari," Touji said when they came close. He stared straight ahead, not looking at either of the newcomers. "I want you to hit me. Hard."

"Okay." Rei followed the affirmation by stepping up with fist drew back.

Touji's stoic demeanor gave way to a flinch. He drew back from Rei's approach. "Not you, the other Ikari."

Rei smiled meanly as she stopped her advance. Shinji looked over at Kensuke, who was standing off to the side. "Is he serious?"

Aida nodded. "He's really stubborn when he's like this. It's kind of embarrassing. Just do what he asks."

Shinji smiled and walked past. "Nah, I like having him in my debt. Besides, this is all stupid. If he wants to get hit, I'll let Rei do it." Touji had been about to protest, but quickly shut his mouth upon hearing Shinji's last words.

Rei followed behind her cousin. She turned to see the two boys staring after them. She waved to them sweetly, and went back to talking to Shinji.

**xoxo xoxo**

Misato kicked back on the couch and smiled. She looked over to the blonde who was sitting in the chair across from her. Ritsuko looked hesitant about something, and was still holding her plate stiffly in her hands. A quick glance to the table revealed the source of her friend's hesitancy.

"Let me get that," Misato piped up. She took her hand and pushed against the stack of papers and the stray beer cans until a suitable space was cleared on the table. Amazingly, the other trash on the table seemed to shift and accommodate the new configuration of the pile. Nothing fell off the other side. Ritsuko placed the plate of takeout food that Misato had gotten for them on the empty surface.

She took a sip of her tea, and looked at the apartment again. "Honestly, Misato."

"Don't start in on me, Ritsu. You know your house smells like cat pee, so allow me my vices. Speaking of which…" Misato finished the statement by cracking open a beer can, and taking a swig. "AAAAHH. That hits the spot."

"So, are you going to Megumi's wedding?"

Misato sighed in a long-suffering manner. Megumi was a common friend of theirs from the university, and she was getting married in less than two months. To stall, Misato drank deeply from the canned beverage. "I don't know. I guess. I'll have to get a new dress. My best one was damaged in the… at work."

Ritsuko frowned. "Surely you're allowed to talk about the fact that there was an Angel attack. It's on all the news stations."

Misato shook her head. "Best not to test any gray areas, Ritsu. So, do you have anyone you plan on taking with you to the wedding?" Misato took another sip of beer.

"I don't know, I was thinking about Kaji maybe." Ritsuko smiled as Misato began to cough. It was too easy to pick on her, but sometimes it just had to be done.

"What did you say?"

"Kaji. Ryoji Kaji. He should be in by that time."

"What! Are you sure? How could you know something like that?" Misato's eyes narrowed. "Have you two been talking?" Misato composed herself, and finished of her beer. "Not that it matters." She spoke the last as she walked to the refrigerator and returned with a fresh can.

"Actually, I have a backdoor set up on Caspar that I can hack into from time to time."

Misato cut her eyes to the window. She didn't think there were listening devices in her apartment, as it would be easy enough for her and Ritsuko to just go for a walk to get away from them. Since her meetings with Ritsuko were almost always monitored, she had to assume they were using some mobile surveillance. Thus, she always thought of Section 2 being outside her window peering in at her. "You shouldn't have said that, Ritsuko."

Ritsuko waved a dismissive hand. "It's not true. He sent a letter saying he was coming in. I just said the other to drive mom nuts. When the snoops report our conversation, she'll be notified of a potential security leek within the Magi System. She'll have to investigate, and the fact that I confessed so readily to this will gnaw at her paranoia and make her search twice as hard for nothing."

"That's just evil, Ritsu." Misato didn't bother adding how much it pissed her off that Ritsuko would risk their friendship for a cheap shot at her mom. Misato could very well be ordered to cut off all contact with Ritsuko, or she could be hauled off as a potential security or, God forbid, terrorist risk. "And stupid." Misato added to the statement.

"Kaji asked about you."

"I don't care." Another sip of beer interrupted the comment. "So, what did you tell him?"

"That you are an attractive, successful woman of integrity who still knows how to let her hair down." Misato beamed. "That can't keep a clean house."

"I'm very busy." Misato said defensively now.

Ritsuko smirked. "Like we never shared a dorm room."

"So, did you really want him to take you to the wedding?"

"No, it's just so much fun messing with you. I'm not dating anyone." Ritsuko sighed. "It is sort of depressing that things are like this."

Misato sighed. "I know. Here we are, two lovely women of intelligence and means, without dates to speak of."

Ritsuko waved Misato off dismissively. "I'm sure your subordinates lust for you, Captain."

"I doubt it." Misato got up and walked around the room. She gave Ritsuko a wink, who nodded. "Our positions of authority make us too intimidating for men to find us approachable, Doctor."

"I know what you mean. Maybe… well, I think you're attractive Misato. And we're both drunk. There's plenty of deniability..."

"Oh Ritsuko, I don't… this is so sudden." Misato suppressed a giggle as she let out a good facsimile of a pleasure-filled moan. "Ritsu, we're not alone."

Ritsuko sounded as if she had just remembered something. "That's right. As I recall, you had to be very physically fit to be in Section Two. I'm sure we have some nice specimens nearby."

Misato sounded relieved. "Oh good. I'm so hot right now, and I really didn't want to experiment with an alternative lifestyle."

"So, should we invite them in?"

The hallway outside of Misato's apartment was suddenly flooded with lights from the Captain's apartment. Misato appeared in the doorway with her finger pointing. She was not disappointed to see a man in a black suit peeking around the corner. A rubber coil extended down from his ear from some audio device.

"AH HAH," Misato shouted. "Nasty perverted lechers." The man quickly ducked out of sight.

Misato closed the door, and her and Ritsuko started laughing. "Like I would ever do one of those snooping busybodies."

"Government spies are just above germs on the evolutionary hierarchy. To think I would even consider that," Ritsuko said.

"I know. Not in a million years," Misato added. The two women enjoyed the fall out, taking malicious glee at deriding the team who had them under surveillance.

**xoxo xoxo**

The café was a bustle of activity. Such was to be expected during the lunch hour at a thriving port city. Ryoji Kaji ran a hand over his unshaven face, and smiled at the pretty waitress that had brought him his beverage.

"Your coffee, sir," she said in French. Kaji only knew bits and pieces of the language, but it sounded like sweet and erotic music from the girl's mouth.

"Thank you," he replied in the same language. He switched over to German. "Can you speak this language? My French isn't good."

The waitress shook her head. "I only know small," she replied in German.

Kaji sighed, and took her hand. He kissed the back of it lightly, and looked back up at the woman with a rakish smile. She withdrew her hand, and said something in French. He thought he made out something about her job. She finished her dialogue with words that he thought were meant to be insulting. However, her hidden smile let him know that she was experiencing more than indignation. He watched her leave with studious interest.

A man sat down across from Kaji. His attention turned to the newcomer immediately. This was a moment he had been working toward for some time. It had taken more than a little doing for him to find a time and location that were inconvenient to Keel Lorenz. He had a very small window of opportunity due to the fact that he had to make this meeting happen before he met up with the Pacific Fleet and Asuka. She was a girl infatuated with him, and prone to disrupting his need for discretion. Since Keel could not make this meeting, he had instead sent a trusted confidante: a member of Seele.

Kaji had to work to suppress his smile. He had just visually confirmed another member of the most powerful cult humanity had ever known.

"You do not keep a very low profile," the man said in German, with obvious disapproval.

"Sometimes, it is necessary to draw some attention in order to be inconspicuous. Besides, did you see her? If there is a God, He was in a fine mood the day He shaped that form. Why, it would be sacrilege not to appreciate it."

The man narrowed his eyes. He had blonde hair and a hawk-like nose. Kaji knew he was supposed to be intimidated, but the whole arrangement was more laughable than anything. He showed restraint, and managed to look concerned as the man spoke. "Stop playing the fool, Mr. Ryoji."

"Very well. I assume our mutual friend asked you to come with a package for me."

The man slid a key across the table. "It will open a deposit box. In it, there will be a metal case. Our 'friend' will contact you with the specifics. Now that this business is done, I will be taking my leave." The man slid his chair back and got up. He did not spare a backwards glance as he left.

Kaji palmed the key in his hand, and relished its rough edges. He slid it into his pocket as he saw the pretty waitress come back. He had made a lot of progress today.

'Perhaps there is even going to be a chance to celebrate,' he thought, as he let his gaze sweep over her body quickly.

**xoxo xoxo**

Misato came running into the bridge frantically. "Status report!"

On the screen at the front of the control room, a diamond-shaped object floated in the sky. The backdrop of the Tokyo-3 cityscape could be made out easily.

"The Fifth Angel arrived approximately ten minutes ago and has gone into position over headquarters."

"Status of the Evas?" Misato looked to Makoto.

"Both pilots arrived quickly and are suited up. Eva Unit-01 already has synched with pilot and Unit-00 is expected to be synched in less than thirty seconds."

Misato activated a feed with Unit-01. "Shinji."

"Yes, Captain."

"I am going to eject you into a sniping position on the western hills. You have the best synchronization rate of the two pilots, and should be the better shot."

"Unit-00 has been activated," someone called from behind in the control room. Misato pushed another button, and Rei's image came up.

"Rei, Shinji is going to try and snipe the Angel. This hasn't worked to date, and I would be surprised if it worked this time. When the Angel's attention shifts to Shinji, you will be sent up a launch tube close to the Angel's flank. We are hoping you can blind side the Angel and take it down with the prog knife."

"I understand," Rei stated.

"Be careful Rei. The last Angel was able to track your movements underground. If something goes wrong, deploy you're A.T. Field and allow Shinji to barrage the Angel with gunfire. We'll work on a revised strategy based on the circumstances then."

"Understood."

"Launch Eva Unit-01."

The purple giant went screeching up the launch rails. Where it would normally shoot up in an almost straight line, it now spent most of its journey gliding at a diagonal slant. Overhead, it made its exit into a large hangar. Unit-01 attached an umbilical cable. Shinji searched the floor and retrieved a large gun. The purple giant, now properly geared up, walked for the door.

Growth and soil had piled over the building, and it seemed the Eva was coming out of a cave as it walked into the forested hillside west of Tokyo-3. In the distance, the Angel hovered over the silent city. It looked like two pyramids glued together at the base. He was sure there was a term for that. Tetrahedron? Polyhedron?

"Shinji, there has been no response from the Angel. I think we all know that the Angel's love to play possum with us, so be careful. Be prepared for a counterattack. With that in mind, take aim and fire. Rei, be ready to switch from standby."

Both pilots affirmed the orders. Shinji lifted the rifle. The image data came up on his screen in the form of a small circle. It simulated looking down a scope. He magnified the image, being sure to get a good center dot on his target.

Below in the control room, Maya Ibuki shouted. "There's a massive increase of energy from within the target."

Misato flipped the comm. "Shinji, it's going to fire."

"Always when I'm in the middle of something," Shinji muttered, and squeezed the trigger. Through the magnification image of the simulated scope, he saw a beam hurtle straight at the Angel. An octagon of concentric orange lines appeared at the last moment, and deflected the blast. Shinji saw for one moment that buildings in front of the Angel were starting to melt, and then he felt a massive shot of heat hit his chest. Gasping in pain, he ducked to the side and jumped back. He could see flames spontaneously generating from the trees around him, which allowed him to follow the Angel's firing pattern. He ducked quickly behind the hangar he had just exited.

"Unit-01 has sustained damage to its left arm. Dermal sensors indicate the temperature was approaching 500 degrees Kelvin before evasive actions were taken."

"Shinji, be ready to lay distraction fire so that Unit-00 can close. Fire on my mark."

"Yes, Misato."

"Launch Unit-00. Rei, be ready with your A.T. Field. Shinji, open fire."

Shinji sprung from behind the building, and he was going to have to take action anyway. It had only been a few moments, but the front of the hangar was already melting down like wax. He performed running shots, and was rewarded with an interruption of bombardment as the Angel's A.T. Field appeared again to deflect the shots.

"We're going to need a fire team up here," Shinji called, looking at the burning trees. Any further comment was cut off, as he saw the blue robot in the distance. He laid down another barrage of gunfire.

Unit-00 had barely cleared the opening into the city when Rei felt as if someone had started a campfire in her chest. She screamed, and clawed frantically at her upper body. She knew, on some level, she was only feeling her Eva's pain and not her own, but a reflexive part of her mind screamed at her to get the burning agent off of her flesh.

In the control room, the Angel was taking gunshots from the Westside, but the damage it was causing seemed minimal. The front chest plate of Unit-00 had melted. Misato yelled in panic "Bring Unit-00 back in. The Angel may be trying to attack the pilot directly.

Overhead, Shinji could hear Rei's cries, and began firing with greater relentlessness. He could see scorch marks where the Angel was being hit by his shots, but none broke through its casing. He watched, first in relief, then in horror, as Unit-00 was lowered. The invisible beam of the Angel followed the Eva down into the Earth, melting whatever buildings were in the way. Shinji felt heat again. Concentrating, he deployed his A.T. Field. In front of him, more trees combusted, as the high temperature dissipated off the A.T. Field and into the surrounding woodlands.

"How's Rei?" When there was no response, Shinji shouted again with urgency. "Misato, how is Rei?"

"Hold on… stable. How's your gun?"

Shinji looked at his rifle. "The barrel is warped."

Misato sighed. "Return to base and regroup. Do it quickly, before the rails on the launch tube become too misshapen to use."


	8. Scenario no Yui Chapter 7

**Disclaimer**: I am but a lowly fanfic writer who owns none of the things I talk about. Do not sue.

Proofreader credit goes yet again to Cyber-Undead. He does awesome work, and my gratitude for such shall never run low. Yet again, thank you.

The next part was added during proofreading. I liked it

-

_Cyber-Undead appears out of thin air_

If I may… Though I recognize my merit in recognizing some phrase-build flaws and sentenced errors, let us pay credit to its due: to Guppy Lips, for writing this masterpiece. For my endless tenacity and divine wisdom, for checking all the errors. And for MS Word XP, for doing around 50 of the proofread for me. '' And now, if you'll all excuse me, the time has come to fade away…

_Cyber-Undead disappears for under a small un-noticeable rock_

_-_

**Chapter 07**

"What's Rei's status?" Misato yelled at Maya.

"Her bio-signs are unbalanced! She's going into sympathetic shock!"

"Give her a heart massage with the plug suit." Naoko ordered. Rei's body convulsed as something in the plug suit contracted with enough force to rock her whole frame.

"How's Rei?" Shinji screamed over the comm. link with Misato. She didn't answer him yet.

"The pilot's heart rate and brain waves are stabilizing."

"Misato, how is Rei?" Shinji shouted.

"Hold on…" Misato looked back at the tech station to make sure the crisis with Unit-00's pilot was truly over. She finally answered "Stable. How's your gun?"

There was a pause. "The barrel is warped."

Misato grit her teeth. The positronic sniping rifle had not been built for the high rate of fire Shinji had just put it through. Add to that the extreme heat from the Angel's attack, and it was hard to imagine the barrel would not have suffered after passing through such an abusive endeavor. Unit-01 was a sitting duck, taking fire with no means of retaliation.

"Return to base and regroup. Do it quickly, before the rails on the launch tube are melted."

-

The Angel sat almost serenely in the air. With a crimson tube extending from the bottom of the figure, it looked almost like an artist's creation balanced on a precarious stand, rather than a hovering 'creature' drilling into the earth.

From nearby, a raft approached. On it was an inflatable facsimile of Unit-01. It was ignored until a string let loose. The string had held down an arm on the balloon. The result was that the 'Eva' appeared to draw its weapon on the Angel. The inflatable lure immediately popped from the Angel's ranged attack.

From a different direction, a gun emplacement came rolling out of a cave on tracks. It fired a shot at the Angel. The shot bounced harmlessly off an A.T. Field, and the gun exploded from the Angel's counterattack.

Misato and Naoko were watching this on the screen in the bridge. Misato looked over to Naoko with a smile. "Now for your test, doctor."

From opposing directions, two missile batteries began sighting the Angel. They did not swivel to take aim until both guidance systems had secured a lock. The Angel stayed true to form, and did not attack until aggressive action had been shown.

"Now." Katsuragi commanded. Both missile turrets swung over and let loose a volley against the Angel. One volley exploded in the air, and further down the path of the Angel's energy weapon the un-launched ordinance from that battlement blew up. The Angel stopped firing, and an A.T. Field immediately went up on its flank, with barely enough time to stop any impact from the other set of missiles. After it had weathered the attack, it took out the other turret in short order.

Misato turned from the screen. "Well, it's something, I guess. I'm going to have to think about what we should do."

-

Rei opened her eyes again. She tried to think of what had just been happening. Another one of those weird dreams felt like it was slipping away from her, and she was just as happy to let it go. She looked up at the ceiling.

"Rei?" she heard someone call out. She looked up to see Shinji. "Mom, Rei's awake." Yui appeared in the door. She walked over and bent down.

"How are you doing?"

Rei managed to sit up without too much complication. "My chest is sore." She reached up and felt of her skin there. "It tingles. What happened?"

"The Angel fired on Unit-00 before it had a chance to free itself from the launch rails. You felt pain feedback from the Eva."

"I don't remember. The last thing I recall is launching."

Yui stroked Rei's hair. "Sometimes, when something hurts too badly, the mind blocks it. I'm just glad you're alright." Yui kissed the girl on the forehead, and backed away to the door. "I've got a meeting to attend now. I'll let Shinji watch you." With that, Yui was gone.

Rei spared her cousin a glance. "Shinji… I have something really important to tell you."

"What?"

"I really…"

When the pause stretched, Shinji urged the girl to continue. "Go on."

"I really… really… really… hate hospitals."

"If you feel like that now, you're going to be miserable soon. It's time for lunch." Rei made a disgusted look and Shinji laughed as he lightly ruffled her hair.

Rei swatted a hand at her cousin. "We're not four Shinji, cut it out."

-

Misato, Naoko, Maya, Yui, and Kozo were gathered in a meeting room. Naoko was talking. "We have until just after midnight before the drill breaks through into the Geofront. 00:06:45 to be exact."

"Does anyone have a proposal?" Yui asked.

Misato straightened her jacket, and stood up. "I do, ma'am. A new positronic rifle is being developed in a nearby research facility. It is like the one Unit-01 used today, except with much greater firepower. We could take out the Angel in one shot with this weapon."

"Assuming we can provide it with enough power." Yui interjected. "This Angel has a tough hide in addition to a powerful A.T. Field."

"We could call for an emergency blackout. All of Japan's power could be at our disposal."

"What is the Magi's projected success-rate for this plan?" Kozo queried.

Maya, who had been following the conversation with some interest, was slow to realize it was her turn to speak. After a short pause, she finally chimed in a mousey manner, "Magi give this plan a 47.83 percent success rating."

Misato turned back. "Why so low?"

Naoko looked to the captain, trying to take attention off of the already nervous Ibuki. "We already tried a sniping operation. There's no reason to believe we can get out of the Angel's range."

"It bothers me that we would have to rely on untested equipment. If this plan doesn't work we don't have time to implement an alternative." Yui took a sip of coffee and then looked back to Naoko. "What data do we have from the experiments with the Angel?"

Naoko turned on a screen at the front of the room. On it was four pictures: each one was of the Angel destroying a target from the earlier tests. "The Angel seems to not take action until aggressive intent is revealed. We cannot go forward with the expectation that this will always be the case. After all, the Angel fired on Unit-00 just as it was launched above ground."

Another picture flipped, and Naoko continued. "There were several interesting things we discovered. First off, the drill bit flickered and disappeared during times when the A.T. Field was in use."

Kozo nodded. "So it is digging with a variation of an A.T. Field."

"Right, Commander. To date, we believed that an A.T. Field could only be generated in a two-dimensional space. It seems this is not the case. What is important is that this places a limiting factor on the Angels' capabilities. Also of note is the fact that it seems unable to fire and maintain an A.T. Field at the same time. This could be because the A.T. Field would interfere with the energy weapon it uses. However, since it demonstrated this weakness against attacks coming from opposite directions, I am more inclined to say that this is a constraint on the Angel's capabilities. It seems unable to generate enough power to perform both tasks simultaneously."

Maya raised a hand. Naoko shook her head gently at the woman. "This is a brain storm, Ms. Ibuki. Feel free to speak."

Maya blushed, and looked to the computer in her lap. "It's just… well; the Angel has this powerful beam weapon. Why is it drilling to headquarters, instead of just blasting its way down?"

Misato's head snapped up in realization. "Because it can't! We've found a position from which we can safely fire on the Angel."

Yui spoke up. "There is no place for an Eva to be placed along the drill's path, short of the Geofront."

Misato beamed. "Exactly!"

Kozo leaned forward. "Elaborate, Captain."

"I need one more piece of information. Is the drilling tube hollow?"

"We believe so."

"When the Angel's drill breaches the last layer of armor, we will have Units 00 and 01 standing ready. Overhead, we'll have another pair of missile turrets open fire. The Angel will have to use its A.T. Field to deflect one set of missiles. We can then have one Eva shoot up the tube and into the Angel's core."

"We need concrete data as to whether the drilling tube is hollow." Yui said severely. "It is a dangerous assumption to work under if it is not. However, I believe this plan is workable. I still have the same reservations as with the first proposal. We don't have much time to regroup if the plan falls apart."

Fuyutsuki stood. "Doctor, run the plan through the Magi system. Be sure to attain two success analysis profiles. I want one with the normal parameters, and one with a 12 percent greater leeway factor for unknown conditional variance. Otherwise, I believe we have something to work with. This meeting is concluded until further notice."

-

Naoko Akagi let her fingers glide over the keyboard. She drank a cup of coffee with her left hand, seemingly oblivious to the valuable data she was entering with her right. Maya Ibuki looked on with awe.

"You are the master."

"If you had entered in as much code as me, it would be about the same for you. Programming three neural-based supercomputers invite this sort of adaptation."

Maya looked down. Naoko could almost pinpoint the instance when Maya became ashamed of herself. "I embarrassed us today, Sempaii."

"Nonsense. When in particular do you think that happened?"

"I was slow in revealing data when requested."

Naoko laughed. "Everyone in this compound is rough around the edges. The Angel attacks have forced us all to work a lot of overtime analyzing the nature of our enemies. Also, these attacks have forced us to stay on call. Humans cannot function well while suffering from high levels of stress and sleep deprivation."

"It's not that. It's just… everyone in that room. They're legends."

"Don't buy into the hype, Maya. They're just people: flawed, sometimes brilliant, but barely above the norm. Don't let them intimidate you." Naoko pressed the enter key three times in succession and brought her hand back. "Now we wait."

Maya nodded. "Thanks, Sempaii."

Naoko turned to the woman. "So, how are things going with you Maya? Are you still getting flowers from the guy in maintenance?"

Maya blushed again. "No, ma'am. He transferred to the U.S. branch. They are just getting off the ground, and he could work himself into a position of importance by being onboard early."

"Just as well. He was a little old for you."

"He was only 31."

"And you are what… 22? Well, if he made you happy, I guess that's good enough. It's a pity he left. Is anyone else showing interest?"

Maya shook her head. She was still embarrassed, but would not deny Dr. Akagi the conversation. Naoko thought it was sweet. Maya was a kind soul, but a bit of a wallflower. Bookworm would have been a more accurate term. Maya finally spoke up. "All of these attacks have everyone busy. There's not a lot of time for extracurricular activities."

"Make time, Maya. Things won't fall apart if you take an evening off."

"You should too, Sempaii."

Naoko shook her head. "Unfortunately, they will fall apart if I'm not around." A steady tone interrupted the two, and a nearby copier started up. After the first sheet had printed, Naoko picked it up. She studied the paper as she walked over to the phone. She keyed in a number on speed dial before picking up the receiver. "The Magi have finished the analysis Commander. The first assessment has an 88 percent probability of success. The adjusted assessment you requested came out with a 65 percent success rating."

There was a pause, as Kozo spoke. Naoko continued the conversation on her end. "It's hard to be sure. We placed a camera in the path of the bit, and it snapped 20 frames per second. The pictures indicate that there is hollow space. We cannot be sure of how far it extends. In addition we tried a sonar ping. It got results clean to the Angel's main body. It's my hypothesis that, since the cylinder appears to be elongating, it is drawing on matter from within the tube itself to stretch down. Since the outside of the cylinder is not decreasing in circumference, this means that not only is the tube most likely hollow, but that it will achieve its maximum circumference of empty interior space at the time of the operation."

Naoko waited for a moment, and then answered "Understood. I'll call her now." As she hung up the phone, she looked up to Maya. "Call Misato and the pilots. We're going ahead with the plan."

-

In the Geofront, an array of floodlights was on. On the ground, Rei could see a hundred dim shadows of her Eva, all thrown from different light sources. She looked to Unit-00's hands. She could still feel echoes of the burning sensation from her last two fights with the Angel's. In the first, her (Eva's) hands had been roasted. In the previous experience, she had been blasted in the chest. She had seen the remains of Unit-00's torso armor, and had honestly wondered how she was still alive. The metal had a large hole in the middle of it, and had melted extensively all around that spot.

A holo-image blinked into the forefront of her vision, and Shinji's face was there. "Getting cold feet?"

"I wish. I was just thinking it would be nice to fight an Angel that wasn't such a firebug. Ever notice they have a thing for hot weapons?"

"I hadn't, but you're right. They do like it warm." Shinji paused, seeming to search for something. "I know it hurt you, Rei. If you don't want to be out here, I understand. This is something I can do."

Rei shook her head. "I owe this Angel. Anyway, Misato wants you to use the Automatic."

Shinji snorted. "Like that useless piece of junk has ever done anything. I don't know why she keeps sending us out with that stupid gun."

Misato's face appeared angry on both of their view screens. "That's enough, brats. You got in your cheap shot." The Captain calmed herself before continuing. "We just hit zero hundred hours and three minutes. The Angel will be breaking through in a moment. Do a final check and get ready. Are there any questions about the plan?" Both pilots shook their heads. "The operation will begin in two minutes."

Rei moved one of the Eva's hands to the back of its body, and tested the umbilical connection to ensure that it was locked down securely. She then lifted the same hand up to the shoulder holster, and removed the progressive knife. Across from her, Unit-01 shouldered the automatic gun and aimed it up in preparation for the coming activities.

The ceiling caved in and rubble fell to the ground. The orange lines of the drill bit could be seen, and it was propelled quickly towards the ground along a crimson shaft. A yellow line spiraled up the shaft, showing that it was still moving.

In the control room, Misato turned to Aoba Shigeru. "Now!"

Missile turrets had already locked onto the Angel. As before, the turrets were on opposing sides of the Angel, ensuring that it could not block all the fire it received. It reacted as before, firing on one volley while shielding itself from another.

Below, the drill bit flickered and then was gone. "You're on, Rei." Misato's image flashed up quickly with the image, and then was gone again.

Unit-00 grabbed the cylinder with one hand, and, with the other, sliced neatly through the shaft with the prog knife. The tube was indeed hollow, and Unit-01 was rapidly in position with the barrel of the gun sticking into the opening.

Misato's voice came through in Shinji's plug. "Careful to maintain aim."

"Captain, I know. You're nagging me."

Shinji was blessed with quiet as he watched his screen. The gun had a laser sight installed on the barrel to ensure that he got off a straight shot, up the pipe, to the Angel. He would know that he had a clear shot when the square on the top left of his screen became glowing red and he got a lock-on tone. Both indicators came, and he squeezed the trigger. The automatic got off several shots before the tube vibrated. He went from having a dead lock to relying on the path of the cylinder to carry his shots to the Angel.

On the command deck, Misato smiled. She looked over at Naoko. "That went off smoothly."

"You're tempting fate." Naoko cautioned.

"Energy build-up within the target." Maya shouted.

Misato turned the comm. back on. "Shinji, take evasive action. The Angel may be returning fire."

Unit-01 jumped back. The automatic rifle, which had been rammed into the opening in the cylinder, fell to the ground. The rest of the cylinder fell down on top of it, apparently released from the Angel's main body. It tilted lazily, supported by the hole it had just made in the ceiling overhead. Suddenly, it started melting. The rifle fired off two shots before exploding. The ground under both objects began to glow red.

"Crap. It can fire down." Misato looked overhead at the command deck. The Commander and Sub-Commander were talking in hushed tones. Yui's body language suggested that the conversation was a worried one.

Misato wondered what the Angel was going for. Nerv HQ was deep in the earth, but the Angel wasn't close enough to HQ to cause damage directly to the building with its weapon. Perhaps there was a magma flow not far underground. She would have to consult a map sometime and see. For now, she had an Angel to slay.

"What's the Angel's status?"

"The gunfire from Unit-01 seems to have harmed it. We are detecting emissions similar to those that resulted when Unit-00 cracked the Fourth Angel's S2 organ."

"Shinji, Rei. We have the Angel on the ropes. We are going to launch a simultaneous attack with the Eva's on the Angel. Both of you, close in with your prog-knifes. One of you will come under fire."

"No." Rei said in horror.

"Launch me first, Misato. Let me beat Rei up by a second or two."

"NO!" Rei shouted.

"It sounds good. Be sure to kill the Angel as fast as possible. Go to launch ports 23-D and 24-D. These will be the best positions from which to flank the Angel."

"Shinji, don't do it. SHINJI!" Rei called frantically.

In the Geofront, the purple Eva released its umbilical cable and went running to a pair of nearby launch railings. There was a sound of screeching metal as it was propelled up.

"There is no time for this Rei. Just do it." Misato barked urgently over the audio feed.

"Dammit." Rei muttered, and worked Unit-00 to another pair of rails. She gave the go-ahead for launch as soon as the Eva was secured, and went rocketing into the ground overhead.

When she reached the surface, she could already see Unit-01 jumping from building to building. Shinji was dodging wildly, but was still getting caught from time to time. The damage was evident on Unit-01's foot. As she watched, its ankle snapped, and the android went rolling into a nearby building.

Rei ran her Eva towards the Angel, before it could fry Shinji. She rammed her progressive knife up. It was met with an A.T. Field. Grimacing, she bore down harder. She still did not seem able to tear through. She worked her knife up from the main blade to the tip, and felt as if something were giving way beneath the point of the blade. The Field seemed to grow brighter, and whatever headway she thought she was making came to an abrupt stop.

Suddenly, the orange lines disappeared. Her Eva, unexpectedly free of opposing forces, fell forward and drove the knife into the Angel's surface. On the other end of the Angel, Unit-01 was lying on its side. An arm was extending up and its knife was buried deep into the Angel's main body from the bottom.

Rei saw that the Angel was about to fall on the other Eva, and crashed into the lifeless monster with Unit-00's body. The force of inertia was enough to knock the Angel off the destructive path of descent. Still, the explosion that signaled the Angel's death rocked both Evas.

In the aftermath, both androids were still. Unit-01 had been rolled onto its stomach by the concussive blast. Unit-00 was on its hands and knees.

Shinji's face appeared on a screen in Rei's cockpit. "Nice save, cousin."

"You didn't do badly either."

"Good job, both of you." Misato's voice congratulated into both entry plugs. "Stand by for post-op. Extraction teams will have you out in five minutes."


	9. Scenario no Yui Chapter 8

**Disclaimer**: I don't own NGE. You folks know that. Do not sue.

A multitude of props to Cyber Undead for proofreading. Thanks once again. His proofreading comments can be as fun as the actual story

Changes camera-view to Cyber-Undead

Well, there's got to be some stress-relief, asides the comical jabs thrown by the author, no! **Pouts snobbishly** Rowan Atkinson, AKA Mr. Bean, AKA Johnny English, understood that well…

**Chapter 08**

The large room was distinctive, to say the least. The glare of screens from one wall sent a yellow glow, which mingled with the illumination of the overhead lights in a menacing way. A large tree, with various foreign scripts along its branches, decorated the flooring. On the ceiling, the Sephirothic System shone down on the room's two occupants, who were seated on opposite sides of a large desk. One could look at the circles and lines and contemplate the Cabbalistic path to Godhood.

Or, if one were flippant enough, he could just use it as lighting for a quasi-romantic dinner away from the help.

"Oh, let me try that." Yui said, eyeing something new from within Kozo's Styrofoam dish and indicating it with her fork. Kozo smiled, and stabbed at a morsel with his own plastic utensil, and brought it to her mouth. Yui made pleasant noises as she took a bite.

"This Middle Eastern cuisine is wonderful. I still can't believe you found a place that made it in Tokyo-3. I'm going to have to take Shinji."

Kozo took a sip of his drink before answering. "With all the foreign media personnel coming in to cover the Angel attacks, such delicacies have become a bit more common."

"It still bothers me that we have to sneak around like this. It's not as if we are doing anything wrong."

Kozo lost a bit of his good humor. "Do we need to have this talk again, Yui?"

Yui shook her head. "Sorry, I'm messing up lunch. I know an entanglement in the command structure, such as we have, would set off red flags with the oversight committee." Yui put her fork down, and looked decidedly less interested in her dish.

They went on eating, with noticeably less talking. Yui barely touched her food, and Kozo took one last bite before putting his dish aside as well.

"I know that old complaint isn't enough to take away your appetite. What is it, Yui?"

Yui turned away, and looked to the floor. She was silent for a moment, before finally speaking a word. "Gendo."

Kozo closed the lid on his take-out tray, seeing that the meal had come to an abrupt stop. "I'll abide by whatever decision you make, you know. I won't claim to be happy about certain choices, should they happen. But I realize this whole situation puts you in a bad spot. I always knew that some day this would be a problem."

Yui got up and started pacing now. "So what about the last six years we've been together? I love you, Kozo. That's supposed to be nothing? I can't turn you away. I can't do it to either of you."

Kozo rose from his chair, and drew Yui into a hug. He stroked her hair, seeking to soothe her. "All this fretting at a mere possibility. Who knows if any of us will be here when Third Impact comes? We'll cross bridges as we arrive at them: let's just take what moments we have."

Kozo kissed her cheek. His lips moved, searching for her mouth, and she pulled away.

"You might be right. But I can't, not right now."

Kozo let loose of her, and returned to his seat. "Very well. If you need space, I will do what I can. Just remember that, when you sort things out, I'll be here."

Kozo worked his way around the desk and back to his chair. He waited a few minutes, composing himself, and allowing Yui the same opportunity. When he spoke, his tone had shifted. "We've got business to discuss. Unit-02 is prepared for departure to Japan. The next Angel, Gagiel, is denoted in the texts as the Angel of fishes. Given that descriptor, the prophecies, and the fact that Adam has stirred from cryostasis for the first time since the Angels reappeared, it seems likely that an attack will occur during transit."

Yui nodded as she took her seat again. It had taken her a minute to get herself in order, but now she was all business. "Well, the smart thing to do would be to transport B-type equipment with the Eva."

"My thoughts as well. But this presents a problem: thus far, the Committee is unaware of the fact that we are receiving Adam. To my knowledge, Keel, Ryoji, and the two of us are the only people who know of the move. Should some evidence turn up that we, somehow, knew an Angel would harass Unit-02 during shipment, there may be a reason for investigators to pry. If the Angel attacks, the battle will already be under scrutiny. It will be the first Angelic sortie outside of Tokyo-3. If we don't tip our hand, we can write it off as a strike against Unit-02. But we must be cautious. The presence of B-Type equipment with the fleet may suggest that we were already prepared."

Yui frowned. "I don't like it. It wouldn't be hard for the Eva to be cast into the ocean. Once submerged, it would be ineffective. There's no guarantee that Unit-02 is going to make it through the battle. The prophecies merely mention three golems for the upcoming confrontations. For all we know, we might get a rush job and end up supplied with one of the U.S. Evas. And I have a decided preference for Unit-02. Not only has the model had enough development time to be refined, but it could house a soul within it. It could be as powerful as Unit-01."

Kozo rubbed his fingers against his temples. "I know. I feel the same way. But, secrecy and control are our best weapons for disrupting Seele's plans for Third Impact. If we have both Adam and Lillith, then Tokyo-3 is the guaranteed battleground for the coming Angels. We must secure Adam, without anyone interceding. If another country were to discover that we have it, they would use all their resources to steal it, and bring it to their country. Wherever the Angels attack is where the brunt of the Eva technology will be, not to mention the scientific breakthroughs that come from analysis of the Angels' physiology."

Yui waved her hands. "Okay, professor. Still, I hate to have this happen without some sort of preparations. The Third Children, Asuka, seems to be a good pilot under laboratory conditions. However, we both know how things can go wrong on the field of battle. And the naval officers of the Pacific fleet have no experience fighting Angels. They'll make the same mistakes the U.N. made."

"I wonder if we could get away with sending personnel."

"I was thinking the same thing." Yui became decidedly more animated. She could set aside almost anything when presented with an appropriate analytical dilemma. Their earlier conversation was forgotten, at least for the moment. Kozo knew this would be the case.

She continued. "I propose we send Katsuragi and Rei."

"Agreed. Katsuragi has a gift for improvisation that should result in suitable tactics in case the Angel assaults the fleet. Plus, the Angels have shown no predilection for causing bystander casualties. So long as there are evacuations procedures in place, our risk of loosing her is low. And Rei…"

Yui's face became dark. "Is expendable?"

Kozo's only answer was silence.

"Such thinking makes me feel like a monster, Kozo. I've raised her as a daughter. And we both saw the results of Naoko's tests. Rei may be more distinctive than we had first believed. Her profile did not transplant into the components."

"You know as well as I that only one soul can be in play at a time." Kozo sighed. "We've known this was coming for a long time. We'll hope for the best, but stay prepared for the worst. In any case, if it were Shinji instead of Rei, then we would be left without a suitable pilot for Unit-01. And that, above all things, cannot be allowed to happen."

Yui looked at the floor. "I can't keep doing this. They're my children, Kozo. It was stupid of me to raise Rei, but… she's a part of me. She's as much my child as Shinji is."

"It was the right thing to do. It breaks my heart to do this to the children as well, but there is no other way. It'll be over soon."

A tear slid down Yui's face to the floor. She nodded. "But it won't be over soon enough. And I do not relish the opportunity to play Abraham and Isaac. That is a test I may not pass."

**In the lab**

Misato peeked in the door to Dr. Akagi's office. Maya Ibuki was walking to one side of the room to retrieve a disc, and stopped to turn to Misato. She bowed slightly. "Welcome, Major Katsuragi."

Naoko looked up from her keyboard. "How are things going, Major?"

Misato walked in, and closed the door behind her. She beamed. "What did you call me?"

"What, Major?" Maya took a step back as Misato came into the room, a grin on her face.

"Congratulations, Misato." Naoko piped in from her desk where she was typing.

"And do you know what's the icing on the cake?"

"The fact that the Jet Alone conference has been postponed?" Naoko ventured a guess.

Misato winked, and pointed at Naoko. "She's a genius."

"We'll celebrate. I'll catch lunch." Naoko said. Misato let her smile go up a notch. She walked behind Naoko, and looked at the computer screen.

"Checking out something on Rei?"

"Yes. I found her actions during the last battle to be overly emotional. Rei has tended thus far been the more levelheaded of our two pilots. But in the last battle, when you asked Shinji and her to attack the Angel, she came very close to violating a direct command from you."

Misato paused, contemplating. "I noticed that as well. But she's a teenage girl, so mood swings are part of the package. I'd say for everything she's probably going through, Rei is well-adjusted."

"It doesn't hurt to review relative synch ratios, and examine battle footage. I just want to be sure I rule out other causes. For instance, she could be in the early stages of developing a debilitating fear of some kind. It's unlikely, but deserves checking out." Naoko reached back to Maya. "Ms. Ibuki, did you locate the data recordings?"

"Yes, sempaii." Maya handed the discs over.

Misato's eyes rose, as an idea seemingly sprang to life inside her head. "I just thought of something. I was going over the terrain features of the Geofront earlier. The way the Angel used its beam weapon on the ground made me wonder if we have any tectonic instability underneath headquarters. From an operational standpoint, that could be disastrous. But when I tried to pull up any geological survey data, I got nothing, or restricted access files." Misato crossed her arms. "And that was 'after' I made Major."

Naoko paused. "I'll talk to the Commander about it. It's probably an old carry-over, from when we reallocated the Gehirn staff into Nerv." Naoko finished her typing, and put a password protection on her computer. She rose and stretched, sparing Misato an uncharacteristically cheery look. "Well, that can wait till later. For now, let's find something to eat. Major Katsuragi, we'll dine at an establishment of your choosing. I only ask that we stay clear of the alcohol, at least until we are off the clock."

"How did you…" Misato paused mid-sentence, as if suddenly seized by realization. "I'm not that bad am I?"

Maya giggled, and the trio went out into the day.

**Days Later**

The flight deck to the carrier 'Over the Rainbow' was decidedly comfortable. The night air blew onto the duo lying on the portside deck. The air was cool, but not chilly. The sky was clear, and the stars were out in abundance.

"I don't know; I just don't like Misato." The redhead was saying. She looked over, but the man beside her was unresponsive. "Anyways, she said she would be picking me up around lunchtime, so I guess this is good bye."

"There'll be plenty of young men in Japan that'll gladly be boyfriends with you. The First Child is a boy, you know."

"I'm not interested in stupid kids." Asuka said indignantly. She rolled over several times and landed on top of Kaji. "You're the one who has my love, Kaji."

Kaji glanced away in a long-suffering manner. "I'm honored." He made sure to inflict an appropriate amount of boredom into the statement.

"I'm serious. If it were with you, then all of that stuff would be okay. The kissing and whatever comes after, just as long as it's with you."

"Asuka, you're still a child. There's plenty of time for that sort of thing, after you've grown up some."

Asuka pulled down her shirt, exposing a bra and the top of ample breasts. "I'm grown up enough."

Kaji sighed, and worked his way out from under the girl. "I should go. We've got an important day tomorrow. Try and get some rest, ok?"

Back behind him, Asuka watched his form moving away from her. "See me, Kaji. Please," She whispered, barely loud enough to qualify the utterance as audible. She rose, and went to her own cabin.

In his cabin, Kaji closed the door and locked it. He pulled a device out of his pocket that resembled a wand. He ran it along the walls and watched intently to see if an LED light on the bottom of the device lit, but there was nothing. Satisfied, he went to his luggage, and pulled out what appeared to be a metal briefcase. He resisted the urge to open the case, knowing that satisfying his curiosity would result in upsetting the conditions within. And the being that was being kept in the case did not need an opportunity to function outside of the cold sleep it had been in for the past fifteen years.

He examined the clasps. There were several devices in place on the locking mechanism to keep it safe. He noted a hair tied around the clasp, and was reassured by its presence. Sometimes low tech was still the best tech. If the hair had been broken, he would have had cause for concern. He slid the case back.

He lay on his bed, and indulged in smug self-satisfaction. He was coming closer to the truth. He had the confidence of Lorenz Keel, as well as Yui Ikari, and Kozo Fuyutsuki. He had the identity of another member of Seele, Joshua Christian, who was one of the American members. He now knew almost a third of the secret cabal.

He knew he was lucky. Keel was sly, but his manic pursuit of the prophecies made him less a taskmaster than he could have been. Kozo and Yui were out of their element when they dabbled in espionage. And his nation's intelligence service was thrilled with his reports. This gave him a great degree of operational independence. He was the only agent to date to gain high-level access to Nerv. One had tried by bedding the Magi's creator, but, by all accounts, he had been neutralized. So Kaji was at liberty to pursue the truth unsupervised, and in almost any way he deemed possible.

And of course, he was going to see Misato again. What's more, he could romance her, and still be doing his job. In his heart, it was more than that. He wanted to recruit her. The thought of having her at his side again, if just for a short while, seemed most pleasurable. She was smart, sexy, and knew how to party. And by Ritsuko's accounts, still single.

With memories of his college days flowing through his mind, Kaji went to sleep.


	10. Scenario no Yui Chapter 9

**Claimer**: I own Neon Genesis Evangelion. That's right, with one simple fanfic, I have taken over the whole franchise. Kneel before my ignorance of litigation, and weep that you did not think of this first

All praise be unto Cyber Undead for proofreading. I am blessed to have his talent going into correcting my story. Thanks.

**Chapter 09**

Rei was trying to contain her excitement. Misato sat beside her, and a few men, who were their security detail, were also in the VTOL. Ever since Rei had heard she was going out with Misato to meet the new pilot, she had been in a state of high anticipation.

Misato, for her part, had weathered her questions good-naturedly.

"Who is she?"

"Asuka Langley Sohryu, the Third Children."

"What's she like?"

"Asuka is a nice kid. She's very confident and self-assured."

"Does she speak Japanese?"

"Yeah, as well as four other languages. She's already finished University."

That one had stunned Rei. The girl finally asked, "Is she some kind of shut-in bookworm."

Misato laughed. "I wouldn't call her that."

"Think she'll want to go shopping?"

"I'm sure she will, Rei. Now, why don't you wait until you meet her, and make your own conclusions? It won't be long."

The rest of the ride went on in silence, at least as far as conversation was concerned. The helicopter was noisy. Misato finally spoke, pointing towards the front glass. "There it is: the Pacific Fleet."

Rei peeked over, and saw a lot of ships. Battleships, an aircraft carrier, Destroyers, Frigates, and who knew what all else. It was impressive. The helicopter made its way to the aircraft carrier. It landed in short order.

One of the crewmen helped Misato down from the side door. He smiled in a way that bordered on being flirty, and said something in English. Misato noted that no one seemed alarmed, and assumed the man was being cordial. She told him "Gomen" and gave an inviting grin of her own. The man paused for a moment, before remembering the other passenger and helping Rei out. Misato was happy to see she still had the touch.

The Security detail soon had Rei and Misato flanked, and the group followed a guide to the direction of the bridge. As they came closer, an auburn-crowned girl in a yellow sundress stood in the group's path. She called out to them in Japanese.

"Hello, Misato."

Misato waved back. "Hi Asuka, it's been a while. You sure have grown up."

"I think you'll find I've developed well in every way." Asuka said, not shouting anymore as the group and she moved closer to each other. Rei suppressed a feeling of disgust at the girl's lack of discretion. She wrote it off to the girl being a foreigner. Such people were not known for their tact.

"Is this the second child?" Asuka was asking Misato, indicating Rei.

Misato nodded. "Asuka Langley Sohryu, meet Rei Ikari."

Asuka held out her hand to shake, and Rei followed suit. She tried to look friendly until Asuka spoke. "So you're one of the people who will be my backup. Charmed."

Rei's hand lost some of its rigidity, and her manner became a little less sociable.

Asuka looked over to Misato. The group began making their way to the bridge. "So, where's the First Children?"

"He had to stay in Tokyo-3. We needed to have someone around in case the Angels attacked."

**Scene Shift**

A pilot on the deck watched the Japanese visitors walk into the bridge of the 'Over the Rainbow.' He walked away, theoretically to use the facilities. When he was out of sight he ducked into a vacant supply closet, and pulled out a hand held communications device. A passerby might have mistaken it for a Satellite phone. Most casual observers would not have been able to identify the encryption hardware on the piece of equipment.

"They're here… Yes, I'll be watching for it… Are we sure he'll try to bolt? … Understood… A harrier or combat VTOL seems most likely. A flight deck will be unstable during the upcoming confrontation… Understood. I'm out."

The airman put the device back into his vest, and casually slipped out the door.

**Scene Shift**

Rei looked off in a state of utter boredom. This certainly wasn't what she had hoped for. Right now, Misato and a U.S. Naval Commander were brandishing egos. Apparently the Americans did not like relegating the whole fleet to cargo duty. Rei had to admit that they had a point. If an Angel could destroy five ships like this, then another fifteen probably wouldn't matter. So the U.S. forces were getting nit-picky with the signing over of the cargo. Boring stuff, really.

Rei let her gaze slide back to Asuka. The girl was standing proudly to the side, giving slight approval to the way Misato handled the naval officers. One of the officers whipped his head up, an annoyed look decorating his features.

"Mr. Ryoji, I have asked you several times to not come aboard my bridge without invitation."

Asuka's face beamed with pure joy as she went over to the newcomer. He had an average build. His hair was in a ponytail, and he had several days of ill-maintained hair growth on his face.

"Kaji!" Misato called out in alarm.

"Hello, Major. And congratulations on your promotion."

**Scene Shift**

"I hope Rei's doing alright," Shinji said in-between sips of tea.

"I'm sure she's fine." Yui answered him. She looked to the television. She had rented a movie for the two to watch, but there had been little need for her to get anything to keep Shinji entertained. He seemed genuinely content to just spend time conversing with his mother.

She couldn't have been happier. In the end, she thought that what any parent wanted was to raise children who did well, and whom they could talk to as adults. "I heard you playing the cello yesterday. I see you haven't slipped any."

"No, Rei harps on me to stay after it. I think it may be some sort of revenge thing for me keeping her caught up on school work."

Yui grinned. "And what about school, Shinji? Are you making any new friends?"

"Well, there's one guy who wants me to hit him. I really wouldn't call him a friend, though. I don't know. It's hard to find people I can relate to. Work makes me different. I guess it's why I stay around Rei so much."

"I'm sorry that you have to go through that."

Shinji waved his hand dismissively. "I don't think I'm missing anything. The guys just mostly talk about girls. 'Nonami is looking good' and 'Look at them in their bathing suits.' Don't get me wrong; I think some of the girls are attractive. I just don't think I can obsess the way that they do."

Yui sighed. The last thing she had wanted to do with this time with her son was have 'The Talk.' He was getting to be that age, and she should have seen this coming. Apparently, Shinji's hormones hadn't scrambled his brains yet, as was typically the case for adolescent males. Now would be a good time for this.

Maybe she could make Kozo do it.

A memory of Kozo's own shy advances towards her made her reconsider. It had taken the man a full three years to ask her out, and another on top of that to stop being awkward. Kozo was not the type to be at ease with others. He was a genius, but had also been a little antisocial. He probably wasn't the best choice. Maybe she could shove the duty off on a random tech, or a Section Two Agent.

With a resigned attitude, Yui finally spoke. "Shinji, I think there are some things you need to know about girls."

Shinji laughed. "You're telling me."

"About boys and girls."

Shinji's jovial attitude immediately vanished. He looked to the ceiling uncomfortably.

**Scene Shift**

"It's been so long, dear," Kaji was saying. The group was eating in the mess hall, which was relatively abandoned except for Kaji, Misato, Rei, Asuka, and a distant security detail.

"What are you doing here, Kaji?"

"I was delivering Eva-02 and its pilot. I have been Asuka's overseer for some time."

Misato noted the way the girl looked at Kaji with adulation, and had an uncomfortable moment. Kaji, for his part, seemed resigned to just ignoring Asuka. Misato felt a little better about that. Asuka just had a crush. She remembered Kaji being something of a lecher, but at least he had his limits. He wasn't like some dirty businessman chasing after schoolgirls.

"So, is your bedside manner still as good as I remember?"

Albeit, his limits were very few indeed.

Rei made a disgusted expression, and Asuka looked indignant. Misato stammered an angry "What!"

"Yeah, I suppose it is." Misato felt a hand slipping onto her leg for the third time in so many minutes.

The Major got up in an angry huff. "I'm leaving." Rei fell in beside her, and the two walked briskly out of the cafeteria.

"I don't like her." Asuka told Kaji as the two females disappeared out the door.

"Oh. Which lady are you referring to?" Kaji queried.

"Either of them."

**Scene Shift**

"I don't like her." Rei said, as she and Misato emerged on the flight deck.

"What, Asuka?" Misato's mind raced. She could certainly understand where Rei was coming from, but she did not need squabbles between her pilots. "It's because she was raised foreign, Rei. They don't realize so many of their mannerisms are arrogant."

"I've been around foreign people, Misato. Asuka's attitude is worse than some cultural difference."

"Just give her time to adjust, Rei."

Rei looked at Misato mischievously. "I'll be nice to Asuka, if you are just as pleasant to Kaji."

Misato started to get angry, before she saw the girl's mischievous look. "You're a sneaky one, kiddo."

**Scene Shift**

Some time later, Rei was being drug out of her cabin. Asuka was ahead of her. She seemed animated enough, and Rei wasn't doing anything, so she followed the redhead willingly.

They made it to a cargo bay. Asuka picked up a tarp to allow Rei a better look.

"There it is." Asuka said with satisfaction.

"It certainly is… red."

"That's not all that's different. This is the mass production model. It's the world's first real Eva. That's why it's so special."

Rei was getting mad, but decided not to let it show. "So your Eva is more special because… it's the generic model?"

Asuka's face darkened. "The fact that Unit-01 was able to synch with the First Children so highly during the first Angelic sortie is proof of how unstable the prototype and test type really are."

"Or it could mean that Shinji has more talent than you, or me for that matter."

"Ha! That would be the day."

A sudden jarring of the ship's deck shook the two girls. They both had to grab the nearby railing to keep upright.

"What was that?"

Asuka looked excited. "An Angel." She started digging through a nearby locker, and threw a red suit back to Rei. "Put that on."

Rei looked at the suit, and then back to Asuka. "The proper protocol is to contact Misato Katsuragi. She will tell us what to do."

Asuka was slipping out of her clothes. "We don't have time, the Angel is attacking now!"

"And we are sure this is an Angel? It could be a… submarine. Or who knows what else."

"All the more reason for us to get in the Eva. Now put your plug suit on."

Rei tossed the suit back to Asuka. "A Section Two Agent is nearby. I can have him put me in contact with Misato. If she orders me to pilot Unit-02, I will. However, she is the only person that I have to take orders from." With that Rei spun on a heel and headed for the hatch.

"WHAT!" Asuka screamed. "Dump koff! I don't need you. You'd only hold me back." Asuka was now in her plug suit. She pressed a switch on her arm, and the fabric tightened around her figure. Her gaze fell to the four-eyed visage of the android she was going to pilot. "We don't need her. We can do this."

When Rei emerged overhead, one of the security men quickly came around to protect her. "Put me in contact with Major Katsuragi." Rei said. The man nodded, and pulled out a walkie-talkie.

He was just handing the device over to Rei, when the flight deck of the ship was torn open. What had once been level ground suddenly became a steep incline, and Rei slid down. The man cradled her, and, as the two approached the railing that led to the side of the boat, he shifted to be under her. The duo hit the rails with a thud, and Rei could hear the breath pushed out of the man. He secured an arm around the rail to keep them braced and held Rei tight with the other.

Rei watched Unit-02 land on a nearby ship, and readjust its weight to keep the ship from capsizing. With growing anger, she realized that her mishap was because Asuka had torn out of the hull with Unit-02. She was so mad at the stubborn German girl that she could have strangled her. She checked, but couldn't find the walkie-talkie anywhere. The crew was scrambling in response to the damage Asuka had caused. She watched the red android jump from ship to ship, until it finally reached an umbilical cable. It attached the cable to its back.

Then the Angel came up. It was massive, easily dwarfing the Eva in size, which was no small feat. It was probably the size of the aircraft carrier. Unit-02 held onto the Angel, trying to wrestle it. Rei saw a sudden jolt run through the red android as something gave, and then both Eva and Angel were in the water.

**Scene Shift**

Kaji was making his way to the flight deck. He had the metal briefcase in hand. He looked over to the ocean where Asuka had disappeared. The umbilical cable was still unwinding.

"Good luck, Asuka." He turned back to head for a nearby Yak-38. He came face to face with an airman.

"Sorry, sir. Access to the flight deck is off limits."

Kaji pulled a form out of his pocket. "I have special dispensation. Allow me through."

The airman grabbed the document and studied it. Kaji was concerned that he might have to fight his way through this situation. He was forced to reconsider even that possibility, until he saw two more crewmen coming towards them.

"These aircraft represent a bare minimum of twelve million dollars to the U.S. government. I cannot allow you to confiscate one, not even with this level of clearance."

Kaji let an eyebrow rise. "Really? Are you quite certain? It's not as if I am going to sell it at the market. And these papers are specific on providing me with assistance in being removed from situations that could hamper my passage."

The airman nodded. "What I can do is have someone pilot you out. This would be in keeping with your papers."

"Well then, summon my chauffeur. I have places I need to go."

**Scene Shift**

Rei was on the bridge of the 'Over the Rainbow.' The command staff finally seemed resigned to Misato becoming the operations manager.

"Asuka, what's your status?" Misato yelled into a microphone.

"This stupid Eva won't move." Asuka called back in frustration.

"It's because your Eva isn't equipped with B-Type equipment."

"Sheiss. So I'm just supposed to sit here."

"I don't know. We're working on something. Hold on." Misato looked over to the flight deck, where an aircraft had just emerged from the floor. "Kaji?"

Kaji waved up to the control tower. He was in the back of a two-seater harrier. He tapped something on the side of his helmet, and Misato could hear his voice on the control panel's speakers. "Sorry to run out in the middle of battle, Misato. But I have somewhere I really need to be."

Misato's fist gripped until her knuckles turned white. The tension was enough to make her hand shake. "You're running away?"

Kaji waved, and then the harrier he was in powered up.

Rei watched Kaji's plane rise into the air. She looked to Misato, and thought about saying something. But the look on her face made Rei reconsider. Kaji Ryoji had just made a serious mistake.

Instead, Rei looked to watch the umbilical cable un-spool. "It's like a reel."

Misato turned to look at Rei. "What was that?"

"Like on a fishing pole. A reel."

Misato immediately brightened. "I have an idea."

**Scene Shift**

In the air, Kaji put on his oxygen mask. He spoke through the transmitter in the mask to the pilot. "I need for you to head a half of a kilometer southwest of the Nerv operations center."

"Whatever you say." The pilot responded. Kaji was going to say something else, but everything suddenly seemed to be slipping away. He had just enough energy to form one thought before he passed out. 'I've been discovered.'

**Scene Shift**

Asuka grimaced as the Angel's teeth bit down harder into Unit-02's legs. It was a wonder that the massive Angel hadn't chewed through them yet.

She closed her eyes. She tried to seek out some spark in the robot around her. She needed a connection to the Eva. It had never been this hard before. She had synched several times with Unit-02 in Germany. Even if the Eva couldn't move underwater, it didn't mean that she couldn't make a connection.

And she needed to figure this out quick. In just a few minutes, two destroyers were going to come floating down on either side of her. If the Angel's jaw wasn't open by then, Unit-02 was going to suffer a lot of damage.

Sweat floated off of her forehead and into the surrounding LCL. Misato's voice chimed in. "Asuka, you've only got thirty seconds. You need to do this now."

"I'm trying!" Asuka called back. She strained, searching. And then she thought she had it. A spark or something floated just past the periphery of her perceptions. She seized on it triumphantly. She established a link with the Eva.

It was too little too late.

"Asuka!" Misato called out.

The destroyers crashed into the closed mouth of the Angel. One fired upon impact, causing teeth to fly into the ocean, and tearing a hole in the Angel's jaw. The other ricocheted off and fired harmlessly into the surrounding ocean.

The Angel became more enraged then. It dug its bite deeper into Unit-02's leg, and slung its head side to side. Asuka screamed.

On the bridge, Misato was scrambling. "Dammit. We're going to have to reel Unit-02 back in."

"We can't. We'll tip the whole ship unless that Angel turns her loose."

"So, how do we get it to turn her loose?"

"Hell if I know."

There was a scream. "My leg. Mein Gott in Himmel, my leg!"

Unit-02 was suddenly free of the Angel's jaw.

"Get her up, get her up!" Misato shouted.

The winch started winding quickly, and Unit-02 made its ascent to the surface. Someone from a radar station called out. "The Angel is coming back for another pass."

"Can we get Unit-02 on deck in time?"

"Negative."

Misato frowned, and then activated the mike. "The Angel is coming back, Asuka. Be prepared to eject your entry plug."

"No!" Asuka called back. Unit-02's head was looking down, having responded to the drag the water was causing as it made its speedy return to the surface. From her cockpit, she could see purple and red ribbons in the water, trailing behind her like streamers. The vacant stump that was all that remained of the left leg continued to pour fluid out.

"It wasn't a request, Asuka."

The Angel came, crimson ribbons flowing from the side of its own mouth and into the murky depths. A gaping hole, where the destroyer had gotten off a shot, propelled the Angel from looking alien and right into the realms of the horrific.

It rammed Unit-02, and followed up with a bite that encompassed the right arm and part of the torso. Asuka still had a synch connection with her Eva, and felt the teeth sink into her own flesh. She screamed again.

'Mein Gott, I don't want to die!' She thought in her mind.

"Asuka, eject."

Misato's voice couldn't reach Asuka. Instead, the mantra flowed through her mind. 'I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die.'

And then, from somewhere, she felt a soothing touch. It was like balm to her troubled mind.

And the four eyes of Unit-02 flared to life.

The shoulder casing came open. She had been fortunate that the Angel had locked down on the holster that was empty. As it was, Unit-02 was equipped with a progressive knife housing in both launch brackets, and she still had one left.

Her left hand grabbed the knife, and drove it deep into the Angel's jaw. It brought the knife back, and dug a gaping wound into the Angel. The Angel released its grip on the Eva. As the pressure eased off its hand, the Eva grabbed the inside of the Angel's mouth, and yanked itself inside the maw. The left hand swiped forward, and struck the core at the back of the Angel's throat.

The Angel convulsed, trying to spit the Eva out. Suddenly, orange concentric lines formed from the middle of the Angel's head. Its tissue was separated cleanly from the rest of its body. The lower jaw fell away under Asuka, and she had to shove the ceiling of the mouth off as it fell onto Unit-02. The Eva dove forward again, and made another swipe at the core. This time the prog knife bit deep, and the Angel ceased to move. She tilted the knife handle, and was rewarded with a satisfying crack from the jewel-like organ.

"The Angel… is dead." Asuka said, her body struggling to get enough oxygen from the LCL. The combination of pain and battle had left her short of breath. "Bring… me up."

**Scene Shift**

Kozo was in his office, digging through various stacks of paperwork. Naoko announced her arrival with a knock. He beckoned her in.

"How is the salvage operation going?"

Naoko frowned. "It appears that we are going to be able to recover the leg. There has been a loss of tissue as aquatic life has done some damage during the interim. It'll take about two weeks to get Unit-02 back to operational status."

Kozo looked at the way Naoko fidgeted. "There's something else."

"The Magi have just picked up a transmission. It was encrypted, and sent over a secure server to North America."

"And?"

"It's about Ryoji Kaji. The Americans have arrested him for transporting a biological agent that could be used as a weapon of mass destruction. He is being held as a terrorist. Such a charge gives them a lot more leeway in how they can handle him."

Kozo dropped the papers in his hand. His face was pale.

'They have Adam,' he thought in dismay.


	11. Scenario no Yui Chapter 10

**Disclaimer**- I don't own Eva

**Author's notes**- No explosions, rock 'em sock 'em robots, or the such. This chapter isn't exciting like that.

Cyber Undead is worthy of all proof reading praise that can be heaped upon his head. He did a good job, and I think his checks have actually made me better

**Chapter 10**

Rei walked down the pedestrian ramp from the aircraft carrier to solid land. Shinji and Yui were waiting for her, down on the ground. She smiled and waved to the two. As soon as she had made her way close to them, she ran over to give both a hug.

"I've missed you guys."

"I'm just glad you're safe dear." Yui said, and looked up to the walkway. "Give me a minute, kids. I've got to talk to Misato."

As soon as Yui was out of earshot, Shinji looked at Rei seriously. "Never leave again."

"Why, what did I miss?"

Shinji shivered, and found something interesting on his shoes. "Mom gave me… the talk."

Rei stared at him blankly for a second. Then she erupted in laughter. "Aunt Yui tried to talk to you about…" Rei lapsed into giggles, unable to finish the sentence.

"Glad you're enjoying yourself." Shinji commented dryly.

"Sorry, it's just…" Rei interrupted her explanation with a fresh peal of laughter. She fought to stifle her humor, and was eventually able to contain her mirth to a wide grin.

"It's the creepiest thing I've ever been a part of. I'm fourteen! She should have guessed that I know something by now."

Rei pinched Shinji's cheek. "Not momma's pretty little boy. He doesn't have such thoughts."

"I really regret telling you anything."

"I'm going to have to change the subject. I'll just keep laughing about this if I don't, and it's making you mad." Shinji nodded, and Rei became slightly more serious. "Shinji, I think I'm in love."

"What? With who?"

"One of the Section Two men. He protected me during the battle. He was so strong and gallant, Shinji. He cracked a rib shielding me during a fall. And he's handsome. His name is Tukagi Ikita. I… I shouldn't be telling you this."

"You're right." Shinji let the statement hang for a moment. Rei gave him her best puppy dog eyes, and Shinji relented. "Go ahead."

"I gave him a kiss. Before I disembarked, I went by the ship's sickbay, where he is being kept. And I kissed him on the cheek. It was so sweet. He blushed, and I think his friend, who was there with him, teased him when I left the room."

"What! Rei, they're security, they're supposed to protect us. Do you know how many different ways this is a bad idea? Section Two guys are old. Like, twice our age, if not more." Shinji paused, looking at Rei. "It doesn't really matter what I tell you about this, does it?"

Rei shook her head and beamed.

Shinji sighed, and looked around. "Fine, I just hate to see you learn the hard way." Seeing that nothing was sinking in, he decided to try another subject. "What about the new pilot?"

That managed to bring a dark emotion into Rei's bliss. "She's rude and arrogant. She almost got me killed. She had Unit-02 jump through the top of the ship where I was standing. It tore away and almost threw me into the ocean. When she comes around, I'm going to let her have a piece of my mind."

"So, where is she?"

"I went ahead of Misato and her. They both wanted to oversee Unit-02's transfer." Rei looked to the off-loading ramp, and immediately her attitude became chilly. "Speak of the devil."

Shinji looked, and spotted his mother and Misato quickly. In front of Misato, a girl with red hair walked along proudly. The red clips in her hair were an obvious indication that she was a pilot.

Shinji's mouth opened a little. "She's beautiful." Given Rei's description, he had been expecting a monster of a female. But this girl was attractive. Make that 'very' attractive.

"OW!" Shinji grabbed his leg, and looked to his cousin accusingly. She had felt it necessary to bring him back around with a swift kick.

"That's just gross, Shinji. The girl is evil, pure and simple. And during combat, she's likely to get one or both of us killed. I never thought you were the typical male, but here you are, drooling over her."

"Well, you didn't mention she was a babe. Ow!"

Shinji and Rei became less casual as Yui, Misato, and Asuka came off the ramp to meet them. Shinji offered a big smile as Asuka approached.

"Welcome to Japan."

Asuka looked down at the boy, and then to Misato. "Is this the First Child?"

Misato nodded. "Asuka Langley Sohryu, meet Shinji Ikari. Asuka is the Third Children, Shinji."

"It's a pleasure to meet my new colleague."

Asuka looked over to Rei, but dismissed her instantly. The German girl was turning to say something to Yui when Rei spoke up. "You almost killed me, and a lot of crewmen as well."

"What?"

"During the battle, Pilot Sohryu. You jumped straight through a ship's deck. It was a surface that several crewmen and I were standing on. You almost killed us."

Yui looked to Misato, who shrugged and nodded. Misato spoke up. "If Asuka had stayed where she was, the Angel would have done worse to the ship. We cut it close as it was. She should have given some notice though."

"I don't have to justify myself to her." Asuka looked at Rei darkly.

Yui looked down at the German girl. "All of this can be sorted in debriefing. For now, let's see to it that you are settled in to your new living quarters."

Misato put a hand on Asuka's shoulder. "It's going to be so nice to have a roommate. This'll be like university all over again."

**Scene Shift**

Kaji's head was knocked back again, and stars filled his vision from the impact. He thought he might be used to such a thing by now, but every time it happened was a new exercise in pain. He felt the rough fabric of the blindfold becoming a little wet against his face.

"Do you think I like doing this, Mister Ryoji. I don't want to, but until I get some information out of you, this will continue. I can't go back to my superiors otherwise."

Kaji chuckled. "I've never had one person play both good cop and bad cop before. It works better with two you know."

"What is the nature of the embryonic entity that was found in the case?"

"Just your average little baby boy."

"Mr. Ryoji, we both know that is untrue. As it stands, your lack of cooperation is forcing us to resuscitate it from its cryo-sleep."

"I wouldn't advise that. The consequences of such an action may be more than you know."

"If anything bad happens, it'll be on your head, Mr. Ryoji. If you will talk, we can avoid such actions."

Kaji's mouth clamped shut into a firm line. The interrogator smiled. He almost had him.

"I'm going to check and see when the revival of the embryo is scheduled. Think about what you do and do not need to say."

**Scene Shift**

Nine black monoliths hovered in a circular formation. They formed a ring that allowed each one to be facing the rest. The circle was broken by the absence of four monoliths. Had they been here, the designation they would have broadcast would be Seele 01, Seele 05, Seele 07 and Seele 11.

Seele 04 was the first to speak. "Strange tidings are coming from the Americans. They report capturing an entity that resembles in fundamental ways the giant of light. This is interesting indeed, since Adam is supposed to be buried within Nerv Headquarters."

"Such a turn of events means one of three things: The Americans are wrong, they have a copy, probably Angelic in nature, or they have Adam."

"I have seen the wave spectral analysis taken from a scan of the embryo. It is identical to those that the Katsuragi expedition recorded of Adam."

"It is impossible for it to be an Angel. They only manifest when we break a Seal."

"And who breaks those Seals? Regardless of whether it is an Angel or Adam, there is only one man who could have betrayed this group. Ironically, it is the man that would lead us."

"I protest these accusations. You jump to conclusions. He should be allowed to defend himself."

"And he will be allowed. However, he is persuasive. He will not be permitted to color these deliberations until we are ready for him."

"This is a witch hunt."

"These talks are to prevent a disaster. As it is now, the Angels have two locations they can manifest in. Our resources were spread thin just to support Tokyo-3. To support that city and a Nevada site is unthinkable. The world's present assets are unable to meet the challenge."

"Where are Seele 05, 07, and 11?"

"The German was discovered to have been in contact with Ryoji Kaji. He is being questioned. Seele 07 is scrambling with his Nerv resources to contain the situation. Seele 11 has chosen to disregard our summons to this meeting."

"Such disregard is suspicious."

"Agreed. Especially since it is his country that is the subject of our talks. What does the other American think?"

"I cannot speak for my compatriot. The present situation might have him detained, or he may be avoiding us. It is difficult to say without further data."

Suddenly, another monolith joined the proceeding. It was designated Seele 01.

"Is this a meeting? A paranoid person might think others were plotting behind his back." The audio from the newly arrived monolith proclaimed.

Seele 03 spoke up. "Do the Americans have Adam?"

"Yes."

There was a collective gasp around the circle.

"To date, we have had a copy inhabiting Nerv. This was felt to be a safer route, in case someone tried to secure Adam through militaristic means. Adam was kept near to the locale of Evangelion Unit 02 as a precaution. The German's had better security, not to mention a strong militaristic presence in the area. It was determined that among foreign powers, they represented the least threat of government seizure. After the Angel attacks began, it was decided that Adam would be safer under the trio of Evas that would be in Tokyo-3. The shipment of Unit-02 was the first safe opportunity to move him."

"Obviously you were mistaken."

"Obviously."

"You lied to this group."

"Indeed. Such sensitive information could not be trusted with certain members. The absence of one of our members is a testimony to that."

"We do not know if he is guilty."

"His absence suggests his culpability."

"What must be done now? We need to collect all the pieces in one place. Either it will be Tokyo-3 or Nevada."

"Both sites have merit. The Americans have almost completed their Evas."

Seele 01 spoke. "The location of Tokyo-3 is special. It is likely that the Red Earth ceremony will only work at that location."

"It is for the completion of that ceremony that this group was created. We must not allow the ritual to come into jeopardy."

"Then we must seize Adam from the Americans."

"It must be done covertly. A war with the Americans will divert too may resources."

"A covert operation is unlikely to succeed. They have Adam in a secure military complex."

"We need a diversion."

"Perhaps an Angelic attack could convince the Americans that they should release Adam to those who can best protect him."

"No." Seele 01's tone of voice carried an authority to the proclamation. "After the attack on the Pacific Fleet, if another Angel attack were to occur outside of Tokyo-3, the world would be in an uproar. So long as the attacks are confined to Tokyo-3 we have latitude with our budgeting. If we were to try and ensure a response to every country that wanted protection after an Angelic attack in America, we would go broke. Countries would pull out of the U.N. and stop funding internationally to instead finance their own programs. I will determine a suitable strategy for a covert operation."

With that, Seele 01 was gone. There was muttering after he left, but the monoliths began disappearing, one by one. The space that had been filled with the floating black rectangles was empty for a moment. Then, two reappeared. One proclaimed it was Seele 01, and the other was Seele 08.

"We must neutralize Joshua Christian. It had to be he who interrupted Kaji Ryoji's delivery."

"You're sure?"

"Yes. Can you manipulate security to make it so that an extraction of Adam and Kaji Ryoji is possible?"

A whistle came over the audio of Seele 08. "That's a tall order. I don't know if I can do that 'and' keep from exposing myself. Especially since he's been taken as a terrorist."

"That's another thing. We should fabricate ties between Kaji and a terrorist organization. U.S. intelligence is good. We do not need them snooping after committee members."

"I'll do what I can. By all accounts, this is still a free society. It is going to make it difficult to manipulate evidence and extract your man and Adam."

"Retrieving Adam is the highest priority. Everything besides that is secondary. We have to get the Giant of Light before the U.S. alters it. In examining the specimen, they may awaken it to its true potential. And this could cause another Impact."

"I'll do what I can."

Both rectangles faded away.

**Scene Shift**

Asuka looked around her new living quarters. Her jaw dropped.

"You live here?" she asked Misato, as the woman made her way through with a handful of boxes.

"Nice huh?" Misato said, without a hint of irony in her voice.

Asuka stared at the woman in disbelief. She followed the woman into her new home.

"I just hope my room is cleaner. What's with the two refrigerators?"

**Scene Shift**

Naoko, Kozo, and Yui were sitting in Kozo's office. All had looks that were severe.

"What can we do about this?" Kozo was asking.

"I don't know. The U.S. hosts exceptional security. I'm not sure of how we can extract Adam." Naoko said worriedly.

"Perhaps they are keeping it with one of the Nerv branches." Yui supplied.

Kozo shook his head. "Intelligence indicates it is being kept at a separate location. The latest accounts indicate that Adam was being moved to a site in Nevada. It will be within the same state."

"That's still vague."

Kozo nodded. "We may have to bring in outside help. They will be cautious of anyone in the area with Japanese features. We may have to either secure a member of the U.S. citizenry, or possibly the Germans."

Yui shook her head. "This is bad. We need to keep as many people out of the loop as possible."

After a brief pause, Naoko spoke up. "We have another problem, though it pales in comparison to this. Misato has been trying to access geological data for the Geofront. The sixth angel attack targeted something underneath Nerv. She suspects there are tectonic instabilities. When she couldn't access the files, she became suspicious and approached me."

Kozo nodded. "How difficult would it be to create a dummy file?"

Naoko frowned. "Not as easy as you might think, but it's do-able."

"Fine, we'll do it. Keep Katsuragi in the dark for now. But with the abduction of Kaji Ryoji, we may have neutralized our security risk, as far as the Major goes." Kozo leaned back in his chair. "And Naoko, thank you."

Naoko knew when she was being dismissed, regardless of how nice the request was made. She rose, and walked out the door.

Kozo turned to Yui. "We may have to request higher resources."

"You mean Seele?"

"I mean Seele. With the fate of Adam uncertain, we should secure all possible funding, and save it for the upcoming battles."

Yui sighed. "They are going to want to keep a closer eye on things now that something went wrong. It's going to be more difficult for us."

"It wouldn't be worth doing if it was easy." Yui rolled her eyes at Kozo's remarks, and he smiled. He thought briefly of going over to the woman. He rose from his seat, and paused. Instead, he began to walk to the door, and heard Yui's footsteps behind him. "We've got a lot of work to do." Kozo said. Yui only nodded in reply.

"Good luck."

**Scene Shift**

Maya was walking around the cage for Unit-02. She was scribbling away busily on a clipboard.

A pair of footsteps caught her attention. She looked up to see Makoto Hyuga and Aoba Shigeru looking at Unit-02.

"You're not supposed to be here, guys." Maya said. She tried to inflict a note of menace and authority into her voice, though, considering the looks on the faces of her two coworkers, she failed miserably.

"Come on, Maya. Everyone and their brother have been by to take a look at the new Eva. We didn't want to wait until an Angel attack to see it."

Maya sighed. "There it is. Now, you really should leave."

"I wonder why they decided to give it four eyes." Aoba wondered aloud.

"It increases visual acuity, not only in the horizontal plane, but also the vertical. This Eva can target objects moving any direction with incredible accuracy. The German engineers really know their stuff." Maya seemed delighted to talk about the new android.

Makoto looked incredulous. "Wouldn't it cause bad feedback with the pilot? A four-eyed configuration isn't exactly normal for most people."

"Yourself excluded." Aoba said, indicating Makoto's glasses.

Maya ignored the remark. "Asuka is actually used to it. She's something of a genius really. She's able to convert the sensory input with such ease that it is almost natural for her. She's really very good."

Aoba let his eyebrows rise slightly. "You sound like a fan."

"Her activation synch ratio was over fifty-two percent. And there were weird fluctuations during the end of battle that almost have to be erroneous. At several points, she was recorded as having a near optimal synch ratio."

Makoto whistled. "As in one hundred percent optimal?"

Maya nodded. She seemed to catch herself, and then looked to the floor awkwardly. "I'm not really supposed to be talking about this. Can you guys not tell anyone about this conversation?"

Aoba and Makoto both nodded. She wasn't reassured. "Really, don't mention this to anyone else. Not even each other. I mean it."

"We will not betray your trust, Maya." Aoba looked as serious as she could ever remember seeing him. Makoto agreed to the same.

"Thanks. I've got to take this inspection chart back to Dr. Akagi. You guys should leave the cage as well."

The two men followed her advice. When they were off by themselves, Makoto looked at Shigeru. "Why didn't you ask her?"

Aoba shook his head. "That was your plan, not mine. I think going out with coworkers is a bad idea. I don't like a soap opera at the workplace."

"But you are playing your guitar tonight. Women love a guy who plays music." Makoto's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Unless you're just scared."

"Big talk coming from you." Aoba's tone shifted into one of mockery. "Oh Captain, my Captain, how I burn for you! If only you weren't my superior."

"Shut up. And she's a Major now." Aoba laughed, and Makoto looked away embarrassed.

**Scene Shift**

In class, Shinji and Rei watched as the new student came in and introduced herself. Rei, as well as many of the other girls, peered at the newcomer with looks of disapproval. Such looks were balanced out by the males of the class, who were quite enthusiastic with their new peer.

Kensuke had slid a chair up to Shinji's desk. "Is she the new Eva pilot?"

"I'm not supposed to talk about that stuff. I got in a lot of trouble last time."

Kensuke nodded. "She is. You are so lucky. You get to work with Rei and that girl."

"Rei's my cousin, Kensuke. Be careful of what you say."

Kensuke backpedaled a little. "That's not what I meant."

The class went on, with the new student being the focus of conversations carried out below the teacher's radar. At lunch, Shinji and Rei went to their usual spot to eat. It was a table under a tree. The shade made the spot nice, and Yui had packed them both some wonderful Bento boxes.

A shadow originating from behind them let them know that someone was with them. Asuka stood with her hands on her hips. She looked at the pair. Shinji couldn't help but notice that a lot of his classmates were watching her with interest.

"Shinji and Rei Ikari. I think we should be friends."

Shinji liked the idea of that. Rei was less enthusiastic. "I don't think so."

"Why not?' Asuka seemed slightly amazed she had been given a negative reply. She didn't seem like the type who was used to such a response.

"Because you almost killed me. Friends don't do that. And I haven't heard anything that resembles an apology."

"I'm not sorry for what I did. If you had got into the plug you wouldn't have been in any danger. You were just being stubborn. It's really your fault."

Rei stood, and Shinji jumped up quickly as well. Rei knew Shinji was going to stop her and Asuka from fighting. She gathered up what food was left on the table, and looked to Shinji. "Come on. I don't think I can be around her for much longer."

Shinji nodded, and helped Rei carry some stuff. He didn't want to snub Asuka, and looked to her apologetically. But given the option between this or a fistfight between the two girls, he would have to go with this.

Asuka looked at Shinji with disdain. "Go on then. I see how things are. I don't need either of you anyway."

Shinji tossed back an apology, and followed Rei to another place to eat.

**Scene Shift**

Ritsuko and Misato were walking towards a restaurant. Misato lifted her face. The warm afternoon sun felt good. Truth to tell, she was glad to be away from her apartment. Misato had wanted someone with her to fill the empty residence, and she did enjoy having a new roommate. But after so long on her own, she found that the presence of another person in her home was grating on her nerves.

Ritsuko pointed at a place, and it looked good to Misato. When the two were seated, Misato looked at Ritsuko. "Sorry about the conference."

Ritsuko smiled. "I doubt that, though I appreciate the sentiment. So, have you heard from Kaji?"

Misato made an unappreciative face. "He was a letch. He behaved like a total pig when I talked to him, and ran away like a little girl at the first sign of trouble."

"I assume you mean with the fleet."

Misato stopped, realizing she was getting dangerously close to revealing information outside of what the security detail had said was reasonably allowed. She just shook her head.

Ritsuko rolled her eyes. "Fine, I get it." The two friends went through the rest of lunch with some small talk. Ritsuko left after getting a call on her cell phone. Judging by her urgency, Misato knew it had been important.

Misato went to the bathroom to check herself before leaving. As she rifled through her purse for makeup, she noticed a folded piece of paper. Quickly, she opened it.

_Misato_

_The Americans have Kaji. They are holding him as a terrorist. He's being detained in Nevada, at a secure location. I thought you should know, because it doesn't seem anyone at Nerv is telling you._

_Your friend_

Misato went back to a stall. She ripped the note, and let the pieces fall into the toilet. Then she flushed them. She walked back to the mirror. She stared at herself for a long moment, and then beat her hand against the counter.

"Why Kaji? Dammit, why?"

She knew two things. Despite it all, he still held a special place in her heart. It might not be love, but it was something.

And no matter what it took, she would rescue him.


	12. Scenario no Yui Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **Neon Genesis Evangelion is the work of other folks. I'm just writing a fanfic.

Pre-reader credit, as always, goes to **Cyber Undead**. I might have mentioned that he is invaluable in the creation of this story, but I probably still don't mention it enough.

**Chapter 11**

Asuka looked up from her position in the floor, where she had been watching some inane television program. "I'm so bored."

Misato gazed down from her spot at the table, where she was reading something in a folder. Several such files where spread across the table. "Sorry Asuka, but I've got to get through this. Otherwise, we might do something."

Asuka sighed. "I hate the Nerv branch here. I feel like there's the whole Ikari family, who everyone bows down to, and then there's me."

'Because that's exactly how it is.' Misato reflected, her thoughts going to Yui in particular. Of course, voicing that would do no good. "You and Rei didn't get off on the right foot. That's why it seems that way."

Asuka rolled over to get a better look at Misato. "I knew it would be like that. I remember seeing the name Ikari coming up when I looked up the files on this base. I mean, the mother is sub-commander and her two kids are the pilots. That's just asking for trouble."

'Preach on.' Misato wisely kept her thoughts to herself, instead letting Asuka vent.

"And don't get me started on the first child." The statement was immediately rendered ironic, as Asuka saw fit to start herself. "He's so whipped. I swear that he and the Second Child are closer than cousins should be."

"They're not incestuous, Asuka. There's nothing wrong with being close to family." Misato and Asuka were quiet, as that statement gave both something to ponder.

"Misato, what do you know about the Evas?"

Misato looked puzzled. "I probably know what you know. Why?"

Asuka took a breath. "When I was fighting the Angel, I felt… I don't know." Misato waited patiently while the girl searched for words. "It was like someone else was there. Someone I knew."

"In the plug?"

"Sort of."

"Do you think it was your Eva?" Misato suppressed the urge to slap herself in the head for that question. When you were trying to get information from someone, the most important thing was not to lead him or her. She didn't need to be concerned with that problem, as it turned out.

"No. The Evas are just dolls that we make dance with our minds. It doesn't do anything if I don't tell it to."

"I don't know then, Asuka. Can you think of anything?"

"I'm trying, but no."

Now she could suggest options. "Was it because I was on the comm. with you?"

"Maybe." Asuka sighed. "Maybe not."

"It's just a mystery we'll have to figure out together."

"Speaking of which: I can't get hold of Kaji." Asuka pouted. "It's like he's ignoring me. When I tried his cell phone, the service was disconnected."

"You probably won't hear from Kaji…" Misato was going to say 'for a while,' but was that true? Would Kaji ever reenter their lives?

"What do you know, Misato?"

"Kaji had to leave. He may not be coming back."

"What? No!" Asuka stood up now. "I don't believe it."

Misato didn't want this. "The dishes are piling up, Asuka."

Asuka tapped her foot impatiently. "That is such an obvious change of conversation that it's insulting."

"It doesn't change the facts. It's your day to do dishes, and we have several. So if you don't have anything to do…"

Misato was interrupted by a phone call. Asuka dashed over to answer it. When she picked up the receiver and heard the voice of the caller, her tone immediately became jovial. "Hey Hikari… I would love to, let me check." Asuka placed her hand over the phone. "Hikari wants to show me around the city. Can the dishes wait?"

**Scene Shift**

The girl with azure hair sat in a comfortable chair. Her feet were folded under her. She had on a loose sweatshirt and a baggy pair of pants. By the glow from a nearby table lamp, she was reading a hardback book. Shinji walked up behind the girl, and looked over her shoulder. "What's that?"

Rei looked up, a little startled to not be alone anymore. "A book."

Shinji came around, and took another seat in the living room. "What's it about?"

Rei sighed. "Why is it that people always want to talk when a person is in the middle of reading?"

"I don't know. Why do you think it's called Solitaire for that matter? Every time I play that card game, there is at least one person who tells me what to do next."

"You're being dense on purpose."

"Of course. It makes me feel smarter when I know it's not always accidental." Shinji nodded to the book. "I can leave you alone. It's just that the house is so quiet with mom gone again."

Rei nodded. Shortly after Asuka had arrived, Yui had left on another work-related trip. She knew it was something they should probably come to expect until the war with the Angels was over. "Okay. The book is about twins."

Shinji raised an eyebrow. "What about them?"

"Well, there was this pair of twins. They're called the Jim twins. Both were separated at birth, and reunited four decades later. All these weird similarities kept coming up in the lives they had lived. Like, they both were married to women named Linda, and then to women named Betty. Both had a dog named Toy, and a son named James Alan. Both were in law enforcement, and went to vacations at the same spot."

Shinji wiggled his fingers. "Creepy."

"It is. It makes you wonder how distinctive we really are."

"Why do you say that? Neither one of us are twins."

Rei looked down. "Sometimes I wonder. I have weird dreams on occasion, you know."

Shinji nodded. "You've told me about the evil 'Rei's. They float around and laugh. They don't have goatees, so you don't know they're evil right away."

"It's not funny."

"You should talk to one of those dream people about it." Seeing Rei's quizzical look, Shinji went on. "Dream interpreters, that's what they're called. They tell you what things in your dreams are supposed to symbolize. Going to school in your underwear is supposed to be a sign of anxiety, for instance."

Rei stared at him suspiciously. "Why was that the first example to come to your mind, Shinji?"

"You've never had that dream? Where you look down, and you forgot to put on your clothes, and it's the middle of school."

Rei shook her head. "I can't decide if you have anxiety, or if you're a pervert."

"Everybody has that dream."

"I don't think they do."

Shinji got up, and walked to the kitchen. "I'm going to make some soup. Do you want any?"

"Sure. Just make sure you keep your clothes on while you cook."

Any other response was interrupted, as both of their cell phones began ringing.

**Scene Shift**

Overhead, the sound of aircraft could be heard. Three black flying-wings were soaring along in the sky. The only dissimilarity was the splotches of color in the middle of each, indicating a different Eva that was being hauled.

Inside the cockpit of each android, Misato's image came up. "Repairs have not yet been completed on Tokyo-3. Our response capability is just twenty-six percent. So we are going to intercept this Angel at the water's edge to avoid a battle in the weakened city."

Asuka's face appeared on all the links. "Just leave this to me."

Misato corrected the girl quickly. "Units-00 and 02 will attack the target in waves. Unit-01 will be set up nearby with a high-powered rifle to provide sniping support. We don't know what to expect yet from this Angel, so it's better if we send in one Eva at a time to test the capabilities of this opponent."

"This isn't sporting." Asuka complained bitterly. "I would rather be allowed to attack the target on my own."

"Yeah, you did so well with the last Angel." Rei interjected.

"What was that?" Asuka responded with menace.

"It's just S.O.P. You could probably take the Angel on your own, but we have to ensure the highest chance of completing the mission objective." Shinji tried to calm the girls.

"Just stay out of my way," Asuka told the holo-images of the two pilots. Shinji cringed a little, and disappeared. Rei stared levelly back at the girl.

"When you fall, try to do it away from the battlefield. I don't want the Angel using Unit-02 as cover."

"Fat chance, Second Child. Watch, and learn how you're supposed to fight."

In the Mobile Command, Misato listened with one ear to the bickering of her pilots. Most of her attention was focused on the unfolding operation. The Evas dropped from their aircraft, and landed with an earth-jarring crash on the ground below. Mobile umbilical stations rolled up to the Evangelions, allowing each unit relief from draining its batteries.

Unit-01 scrambled up a nearby hill and leveled the sights of the rifle on the ocean. The U.N. VTOLs were marking the progress of the Angel, so it was easy to determine where the Angel would exit the water. On the beach, Units 00 and 02 stood ready. Unit-02 had what appeared to be a spear. Unit-00 was armed with an automatic handgun, and a progressive knife in its off-hand.

The Angel emerged, salt water spilling off the contours of its body in colossal torrents. Asuka was the first to move. Unit-02 jumped first to one building, and then to another structure that almost flanked the Angel. Then, the red Eva made a leap that brought it behind the Angel at a high arc. Asuka used the momentum of the jump to add to the swing of her spear, and sliced the Angel in half.

"There, that is how you kill an Angel. It should be done cleanly, and with a minimum of waste."

Suddenly, something shifted on the Angel's body. The two separate halves of the Angel morphed, and both became distinctive entities. One entity was staring at Unit-02, while the other faced Unit-00.

The one facing Unit-00 was suddenly rocked by high velocity impacts. Sparks flew from the core of the Angel, and it went stumbling back to its counterpart, which moved ahead to keep the two Angels from colliding.

"Don't cut off any more body parts. Try and destroy the Angel with piercing attacks and impact damage." Misato called out hurriedly over the pilots' communication systems.

Rei added to Shinji's assault with shots from the pistol. She unloaded the ammunition quickly into the Angel. The Angel looked up at her, and released a volley of energy attacks. Rei tried to dodge, but the spray pattern of the attacks made it difficult for her to avoid all the bolts flying at her. One caught the side of Unit-00, while a few connected with the right leg.

Asuka was moving to attack her half of the Angelic duo. She ran forward with the spear down from her first strike. As she closed in, she brought the spear up, ready to thrust it into the Angel's core. At the last moment, a gust of displaced air spiraled and flew away from the Angel near the water. Asuka had expected possible evasive maneuvers from the Angel, but hadn't expected her environment to be augmented. The Angel hovered slightly, and the current of air hit the Eva's legs while she didn't have a solid center of gravity. Sensing that Unit-02 was about to topple forward, she jumped to the side. As she landed, she dug the blunt end of the spear to the ground to prevent sliding, as well as help regain her center of gravity.

Misato was scrambling for ideas. This was their first encounter with multiple opponents. She had expected it to happen sooner or later, but had still been caught off guard, because the Angel had begun the battle as one entity. She had strategies planned for such an encounter, but they were no good with the present deployment of the Evas.

Misato opened the link to all the plugs. "Shinji, close in with the Angels. Unload fire when possible along the way, but be prepared to assault with progressive knife when you close to striking distance of one of the Angels. I want you go in with the first available target and double team one of the targets. If necessary, we'll draw in the other Eva, and have all three units assault one. These creatures will be easier to take down if we can pick them off one at a time."

She had expected a protest from Asuka, but the German held her tongue. Misato didn't know if that was good or not, and didn't have time to worry about it.

Rei turned back to her Angel. The pain feedback hurt, but it was also firming her resolve to strike. She dropped the handgun. 'Projectiles never work against these monsters anyway' she thought resignedly. She shifted her progressive knife to her more adept hand, and ran towards the Angel.

At the last moment, the Angelic duo rolled out of the way. It was almost comical, as the two entities turned cartwheels in perfect synchronicity. Rei tried to avert her path when she saw Unit-02 bearing down on her, having apparently decided on performing a charge at the same time from the other side. The spear that had been thrusting towards the Angel had instead become aimed at the center of Unit-00's chest. Rei ducked, and tried to evade. Her dodge was unable to take her out of harm's way, and the spear went through the shoulder of Unit-00. Rei screamed as the arm fell off of Unit-00, and into the water below. Unit-02 went rushing past. The strike had been miscalculated because of the Angel's evasion, and Asuka found herself scrambling to stop her Eva's momentum.

"Cut the synchronization rate of Unit-00." Misato was disgusted to see Shinji arrive at the edge of the beach. 'Why couldn't the girls wait half a minute?' she mused forlornly.

Unit-02 was scrambling back to a combat stance. The Angels weren't about to let her get a chance to recover. Both of the creatures floated over to Asuka's position. Shots bounced off the hide of her attackers as Shinji let loose with another burst of fire.

As the closest Angel was about to land, Asuka twisted Unit-02 and threw her weapon at it. The spear lodged into the Angel's chest, and the point made its way out the other side. There was a screech from the Angel. The red Eva leaped back, getting some distance to prepare for another strike. The shoulder holster of Unit-02 snapped open, and the prog knife's handle fell out. Unit-02 reached up and seized it, while crouching in a smooth, fluid motion.

Remembering her earlier misfortunes with keeping her balance, she decided to go with her first attack, which had seemed to be most effective. She launched Unit-02 into the air, and brought the blade of her knife down as she descended. Both of the entities turned up to her, and rose to meet Unit-02 in the middle of its downward progression. She planted her knife into the head of one, but there didn't seem to be any visible effect. She found herself being flipped, and dropping with increased speed. There was a moment of pain as she felt something colliding first with Unit-02's head, and then the rest of the body. And then all was dark. Asuka attempted to move, but felt herself confined. The only part of her Eva's body that seemed free of the constraints where the legs.

Shinji watched as the Angels grabbed Unit-02 in the air. They proceeded to turn it over, and then descend rapidly to the ground. Such a fall was quicker than what could be attributed to gravity. The action was enough to bury the Eva somewhere underwater. Its lower limbs were all that could be seen.

Shinji had wanted to scramble and reattach Unit-01 to an umbilical cable. He only had a minute and a half of battery power left after arriving on the beach. He searched, and couldn't find any spares. He spotted the inert form of Unit-00, and made his way over. The Angels hadn't failed to notice Unit-01's arrival, and began closing with him.

Shinji tried to lay down fire to keep the creatures at bay. He was glad to see that his shots were finally having some effect against the Angels. He saw bits of hide flying off, and was able to make out pink tissue from the exposed body beneath. He grimaced as he pulled the trigger, and suddenly realized he was out of ammo.

Unit-01 jumped the distance to where Unit-00 was turned over, and grasped the umbilical connection. To his disappointment, he found the umbilical connection locked firmly in place. The sockets were made to withstand the jarring and jerking that came from combat, and he didn't know if he could pull the connector out without causing damage to Unit-00 or the cable. Looking to the approaching Angels, he realized he was putting Rei in unnecessary danger. He backed away to ensure the battle happened somewhere else.

Misato was berating the techs to release the umbilical connection on Unit-00. There was a malfunction of some sort, and the team couldn't get a remote disconnect. Misato activated the link to Unit-01. "A mobile umbilical station is approaching the beach Shinji, five o'clock of your current position. Run for it!"

Shinji looked to his display, which was now down to thirty-eight seconds, and took the Major's advice to heart. Unit-01 sprinted for the position, and Shinji was quick in making out an umbilical connection in the distance.

He felt a sting as several energy bolts caught Unit-01 in the back. He dodged as he ran, and the shots went past him. He realized his error too late. The Angels had put themselves in a line of fire with Unit-01 and the umbilical connection. Shinji could either take the barrage, or have the power connection destroyed. Having reacted on instinct, he had allowed several of the attacks to slip past, and they had scored hits on his goal. Flames erupted underneath the vehicle, and a small explosion came from the side of the socket.

"Misato!" Shinji called out in alarm. He noted that Unit-01 was closing in on ten seconds of active power. The purple Eva spun to meet its attackers.

"Dammit!" Misato was frustrated, and didn't seem able to catch a break. She turned to Makoto. "Cut the synchronization with Unit-01, and eject the entry plug. Eject the entry plug for Unit-00 as well. Place me in contact with Commander Fuyutsuki."

**Scene Shift**

Maya cracked the door to Dr. Akagi's office. She was cautious. Usually, the sound of keys being struck with mind-numbing speed floated out from that room, but it was quiet. Maya didn't really expect to see anyone in there.

Dr. Akagi sat at her desk. She had a cup of coffee in her hand. Her stare was fixed somewhere in space, and did not some to focus on any physical object. Her mouth was slightly agape. Maya hadn't drawn the doctor's attention when she had opened the entrance. Ibuki closed the door softly, careful not to call attention to herself. What she had to tell Dr. Akagi could wait.

Naoko, for her part, was thinking deep thoughts. One thing had held her attention in particular. In the communications that the Magi had been able to tap, the Americans kept referring to Kaji Ryoji carrying a weapon of mass destruction. It was biological in nature, according to their accounts.

When she had approached Kozo with that information, he had never batted an eye at that charge. He never addressed it, or questioned why it was there. Naoko had thought about bringing up the obvious fabricated nature of the allegation during her last meeting with Kozo and Yui. Instead, she had held back, seeing if either of her two compatriots would think of exploring that angle.

Neither did. And both were smart. Yui was arguable Naoko's intellectual equivalent, when she chose to focus herself.

This turn of events did not sit well with Naoko.

There was a knock on the door. Naoko snapped out of her thoughts, and turned. "It's open."

Misato looked in. "Is now a bad time?"

Naoko beckoned her in. "What can I do for you, Major?"

"I just didn't want to go to my office yet. I opened my door, and saw several stacks of papers that came up to my head, and decided to procrastinate." Naoko pulled over a chair, and Misato sat in it. "What a day. Having to call in a U.N. strike really pissed off everyone."

"Did the pilots react appropriately to their dressing down?" Naoko had skipped the meeting on purpose. She thought it an exercise in sadism, but understood the need for it, especially after the recent battle.

"Well, it's pretty obvious that Rei and Asuka don't like each other. Shinji is siding up with Rei when forced, though he likes to try and remain neutral. And Asuka likes to be self-sufficient. I'm having a problem molding them into a squad. I don't think berating them will fix the problem."

Naoko nodded. "So, do you think if Shinji came around to accepting Asuka, Rei might go easier on her?"

"It would take something drastic for Rei and Asuka to like each other. The best I could probably hope for is tolerance, and then it would have to be because Shinji took offense on behalf of Asuka."

"Like a boyfriend." Naoko thought it was fun to plant ideas in Misato's mind. Misato's eyes brightened, and Naoko knew she had a bloom.

"I've got a plan. We'll beat this Angel and make a team out of these kids." Misato got up, and then looked back. "Thanks for talking with me, Doctor."

**Scene Shift**

The rough fabric came off of Yui's face. She blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the sudden change in vision. She looked back to the van she had just exited, which resolved itself from a green blur to a vehicle with details. She could tell it was night. There was an armed man to either side of her.

In front of her, another man was standing. He had on cotton slacks, and a Hawaiian shirt. He was slightly overweight, and was suffering from male-pattern baldness. All in all, it was not what she had expected.

"Ms. Ikari, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Yui looked down to her bound hands. "I wish I could say the same, Mr. Christian. However, I find your hospitality lacking."

"Sorry. You'll have to forgive me, but I am in a position that dictates such rudeness. Several people wish to see me dead, and your superiors are foremost among that group."

"It wasn't a smart thing to do." Yui said.

"What, swiping Adam? I could say the same for yourself, you know."

Yui looked away. "I know. But it was necessary."

"I'm sure you came to try and strike a deal."

"You are perceptive, Mr. Christian."

"Please, Joshua is good enough. No need for the formalities. And now that I know you might talk instead of killing me outright…" Joshua made a gesture to one of the men, and he cut the cords that bound Yui's hands. The men turned and began walking, and Yui followed. They ended their trek when they had made their way through some woodland growth, and to a cabin nearby.

"I don't believe I'm still in Nevada." Yui stated, looking around.

"If I answered, that would be telling. So, what is the deal?"

Both took a seat on chairs outside the front of the cabin. "Can I ask you something first?"

"Certainly. Understand, however, I'm not obligated to answer."

"Why would you only meet with me, and not Commander Fuyutsuki?"

"Because I believe Kozo, or any member of Seele for that matter, would kill me on sight, or at least begin a chain of actions that would lead to my death. I don't believe you have the desire for bloodshed that they might possess. And you are still high-ranking enough for anything you say to be valid."

Yui nodded. "So what do you want?"

"I've gotten what I want. I'm just here to entertain your thoughts of getting me to release it."

"You will never be left alone as long as you possess Adam. The old men will hunt you down until the end of time."

"Such an end is not so far away."

"We cannot win the war with the Angels if we divide battlefronts."

"What if my interests do not lie in winning the war?" Joshua looked over to the Japanese woman with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"What are your interests?"

"In due time, Ms. Ikari."

"What of the release of Kaji Ryoji?"

The man laughed. "The gofer of the Apocalypse? He's told us everything he's going to reveal. When he found out what we planned on doing with Adam, he said what he could to get us to stop. It was mostly lies of course. Still, there were useful nuggets of information in his confession."

Yui stared. "An investigation could clear him of charges, if performed by the right people."

Joshua waved a hand dismissively. "I'm already on it. He'll be cleared of charges. You'll have Mr. Ryoji back shortly. And I daresay Adam as well, if you cooperate. So let's see, what do I want?" Joshua tapped his chin thoughtfully. "First, I want the data from the contact experiments."

"What?"

"Fifteen years ago, there were two contact experiments. One made by Gendo Ikari, and another by Kyoko Sohryu. I want all the data on both. In addition, I want the next pilot selected by the Marduk Institute to be sent to the U.S. directly. Upon receiving the transfer candidate, I can release Adam to you."

"That's absurd. We have no control over when the Marduk Institute discovers new potentials."

"Ms. Ikari, save it. What Ryoji Kaji would not tell us willingly, we have learned through forceful persuasion. You can find a suitable candidate if you so desire."

"I'll have to speak with my superior about this."

"And now the reason I called you in particular here. Commander Fuyutsuki will do whatever you recommend. I know enough of your profiles to know that. And he wants Adam back badly enough to make a deal with the devil. So let's just cut the act: you're stalling. You can validate this deal."

"And what can we do to ensure things are kept honest?"

"I'll work out a suitable transfer system. After one of the Angelic attacks, I'll be able to convince my people to send Adam to Nerv. When a pilot candidate is located, we'll ensure delivery of Adam. I'll tell you what; let one of your Nerv personnel come over with the pilot. Allow this person to act as a bodyguard. If I don't make good on my promise, the pilot can be disposed of. And as a sign of goodwill, I'll release Kaji to you first. The next step will be up to you."


	13. Scenario no Yui Chapter 13

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion

Proofreader credit goes to Cyber-Undead. All hail Cyber-Undead, for he is worthy of proofreader praise!

**Author's Note**: To make the chapters sync up with the chapter allocation on the fanfiction site I am going to skip one sequentially. All that this means is where I would have called this Chapter 12, it is now Chapter 13. It makes all the numbers pretty.

**Chapter 13**

Rei and Hikari had both been in the general vicinity of each other since the end of school. They had walked towards the same direction, though neither had closed the distance between them or spoken to the other. But when the two came to the same apartment building, the coincidence started becoming suspicious. When the two entered the same elevator, Rei finally spoke up.

"Are you following me, Class Rep?"

Hikari looked a little puzzled. "I was wondering the same about you, even though you were in front."

Rei checked the address she had been given again, keeping the paper turned away from Hikari. Rei was going to the right place.

The elevator dinged, and both of the girls started waking the same direction. "So, who are you here to see, Hikari?"

"Asuka Langley Sohryu. She's the new transfer student."

"Yes, I know who she is." Rei said sourly.

Hikari looked embarrassed. "I suppose you do. Who are you here to see?"

"My cousin, Shinji." Both stopped at the same door. Hikari's hand pressed on the doorbell, and Rei had a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. Her fears were confirmed as she saw both Shinji and Asuka in the doorway together. They were talking in unison.

Before the pair had gotten too far into their dialogue, Rei had grabbed Shinji and pulled him out the door. She started dragging him away from the apartment. "What do you think you're doing?"

Shinji had shown some hesitancy about going with Rei, but seeing how angry she was, he decided to keep in step with her while he explained. "Misato has us training together. That's why I left school today. She was waiting for me when I went to the office."

"So why has she got you wearing…" Rei paused a moment to look over Shinji's outfit. It was typical workout clothing, except for the top, which was dangerously close to being a sports bra. The look was decidedly un-masculine. "That."

Shinji sighed. "Makes me look like a sissy, doesn't it?" Rei nodded. "Misato thinks we'll do better if we dress more alike. She has us doing everything together."

"If she wanted you to dress more like Asuka, she should have you in a padded bra."

The redhead, who had stopped to give a quick summary to Hikari as well, turned up at Rei's comment. "If anyone needed padding, it would be you, Second Child."

Rei stared daggers at the redhead. Shinji looked down to his hand, which Rei was clenching with enough force to cause him pain. "Rei." Shinji hoped to calm the girl down before she erupted. He had no such luck.

"You just don't know when you're ahead, Sohryu." Rei started walking over towards Asuka, her steps aggressive and menacing.

Asuka slipped back into a combat stance. Her right foot was perpendicular to her left, and one of her arms was in front of her torso, while the other rose up to her face. "You don't want to do this."

Shinji sprinted and got in Rei's path, but she pushed him aside and scrambled past. "You're wrong, Asuka."

"What's the meaning of this?" A voice called out angrily from the doorway. Everyone looked to see Misato Katsuragi, who was sporting a purple tank top and cut-off denim shorts. She looked angrily at the two girls. "This is just the kind of problem that is dragging this team down. Don't you girls have any shame?"

"It's her fault…" Asuka began, but Misato quickly cut her off.

"I don't care. I'm sick of this, and I'm not going to listen to excuses. Now get in this apartment!" The two girls shuffled in, followed by Shinji, and then Hikari. Misato's demeanor changed when she saw the girl, and she smiled cheerfully. "Hello, Ms. Hiroki. Thanks for coming over. I appreciate you keeping Asuka caught up on her studies."

Hikari was nervous, but there was something about Misato's warm attitude towards her that put her at ease. This was the woman she had met twice before, not the screaming authoritarian she had just seen a moment ago. "Hello, Ms. Katsuragi." Misato began waving her hand, and Hikari corrected herself before Misato told her to. "I mean, Misato. I have lessons for Asuka, but it would seem I need to start bringing them for Shinji as well."

"You really are a sweetheart." Misato told her as she closed the door behind them.

**Scene Shift**

Kozo hissed as if he had just touched something hot. "He wants what?"

Yui's voice answered on the other end. "The next pilot candidate and the contact experiment data for Gendo Ikari and Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu."

"We'll have to recheck the records to be sure there are no trace references of Gendo using a sample from Lillith to go into Unit-01. Also, we'll need to alter a few data tables to convince him that Unit-01 is a clone of Adam. Actually, this could work in our favor." Kozo would have never spoken in terms so frank over a normal line. He knew that Yui had a scrambler on her own phone that modulated ciphers to match with the secure lines in Nerv. The technology was far ahead of current decoding capabilities, and used an algorithm the two had created themselves. If the phone fell into wrong hands, it could be detonated remotely, and the chip inside would be melted into scrap. As far as Kozo was concerned, it was more secure than speaking face to face.

"You didn't talk to him. I have my reservations about twisting his plans to our ends. He has more information than he should. What's worse, this means any member of Seele could potentially have the same facts at their disposal. We may be on the brink of losing control."

Kozo pondered that for a moment. "We must ensure that Mr. Christian is held in a state of mistrust by Seele. This will divide Seele's attention between him and us, which means we will be under less scrutiny. That's all we can do to contain this situation at this time."

"So, about the last Angel battle…"

"I assume you've gotten intelligence off a U.N feed. The pilots did not perform up to standard, and we called in a U.N. strike. It will be five more days until the target is active again, according to the Magi's projections."

"Those projections are notoriously misleading when dealing with the Angels. So, what is our plan when the battle resumes?"

"Unit-00 will be unable to fight, as its arm needs more time to be reattached. So we are concentrating on Shinji and Asuka. Misato has decided that the two should spend as much time as possible training with one another, so that they can act more concertedly in their next combat sortie."

"That's not a bad idea. How much time are they spending training with each other?"

Kozo cleared his throat. "They are currently cohabiting at the residence of Major Katsuragi."

There was a long silence, before Yui finally erupted with an angry "WHAT?"

"Yui, we only have five more days. Something drastic was called for. Misato is keeping the two under watch to make sure the progress goes smoothly, as well as ensuring nothing inappropriate occurs."

"Kozo, Major Katsuragi is a drunken, slovenly whore. And the third child is an overdeveloped girl who is eager to prove just how grown up she is. 'That' is the pair of women you let my teenage son, who is just entering puberty, move in with. Feel free to interrupt me on any of this when I am wrong."

"We needed a radical change in our pilot team's ability to cooperate. This is a solution that could overcome that problem. In the last operation, our pilots did not work together, and ended up hurting one another. Where three Eva units failed, two could succeed. But it is going to require a fundamental shift in how our pilots behave. Misato is watching them, and nothing unseemly will happen."

"I don't really have a choice, do I? I tell you one thing, Commander Fuyutsuki, this may well be my last trip abroad. I am not at all satisfied with how things are being handled in my absence."

"I didn't think you would be, Yui. Just come home safe. You will not be removed from danger until you are back at Nerv. Shout at me all you wish when you get here, but don't let this distract you and cause you to make a mistake. Be careful. Can you do that?"

Some of the anger was gone from Yui's voice, and she answered. "Yes. I think I can."

**Scene Shift**

Misato put on some music, which sounded suspiciously Latin. She had mats placed out on the floor, with numbered steps.

"What is this?" Shinji said, knowing the answer but curious as to how it applied to him.

"Do either of you know how to Tango?" Asuka and Shinji shook their heads. "Of course we aren't going to learn the whole dance, but there's enough for you to get started on."

Rei spoke up from her place on the floor, where she and Hikari were playing with Pen-Pen. "Are you going to train them to dance with the Angel?"

"The shortcoming of the pilots in the last battle was their lack of team effort. You've got to get into a rhythm with one another, and learn to trust each other."

"Maybe if someone didn't try to kill me every time she got into her Eva."

"Rei…" Misato said warningly. She turned, and looked at Asuka before she could speak. The withering glare she gave was enough to quiet the German's retort. Shinji, not being directly exposed to the fierce look, did not show such good sense.

"I don't see what I did wrong. I just didn't make it down the hill soon enough."

"Shinji, you will learn to do this together with Asuka. We'll incorporate Rei after this battle. You are all going to become skilled at working with each other. If you don't, we will find alternatives to your piloting the Eva units."

"What! You can't…" Asuka began to protest, but Misato cut her short.

"Yes, we can. The future of the human race is at stake. I won't jeopardize it with selfish antics from the current pilot pool."

Shinji went first, moving clumsily over steps on the floor. His feet dragged and he almost tripped, which solicited a few giggles from Asuka and Hikari. Asuka went next, and went through the moves gracefully, if not flawlessly.

"Wow. Are you sure you've never done this before?" Misato asked.

"I've always been a fast learner." Asuka stated proudly, if not haughtily.

"All right. Now, together."

Shinji looked just a little too pleased with the prospect, as far as Rei was concerned. She did not like the idea of him doing something as energetic and sensuous as this dance with the redheaded girl.

Shinji and Asuka clasped hands, and began to dance around. After a few false starts, they started getting a feel for where they were going, and, more importantly, where the other person thought they should be going. The two were doing well, with Asuka only complaining once that Shinji had bumped her toe. Suddenly, Asuka pulled away in a quick motion, and slapped Shinji. Shinji held his cheek, stunned. Rei was quickly on her feet, ready to attack the German girl.

"What do you think you're doing?" Misato called out.

"His hand was all over my butt. I am not letting this perverted baka touch me like that."

"I was grabbing the top of her waist." Shinji whined indignantly, rubbing his face.

"You just messed up… again." Rei said threateningly.

"What, are you jealous? Wished he'd grab you like that?"

"Rei, sit down. Asuka, apologize. Shinji, watch your hands."

Hikari and Pen-Pen followed the conversation; their heads darting from one speaker to another like spectators at a tennis match.

**Scene Shift**

Makoto was buried deep in his reading. He was examining the latest issue of a manga he enjoyed. He heard the announcement for his stop, and pulled himself away from the story. As he got up to leave the train, he noticed Maya Ibuki was going to the door as well. He smiled tiredly.

"Laundromat?"

Maya nodded. "Laundromat."

The two walked amiably to retrieve their laundry. After they had made it to the cash register to pick up their clothes, Maya looked around. "I can't believe Aoba isn't with you."

"He had something to do tonight. He and a few others like to play together at a café. He hasn't had a lot of time lately, just like the rest of us." Makoto looked tired. "Well, I can't complain too much, we still get to sleep at home."

"What does Aoba play?" Maya asked curiously.

"The guitar. He really is quite good."

Maya was about to say something else, but looked away embarrassed as Makoto's bundle was brought out. Skirts and familiar shirts dominated the top of the pile.

"The Major asked me to pick up her laundry for her. The children have her busy."

Maya looked back, trying to hide her discomfiture and possible misconception. "So she's… babysitting now?"

"She's trying to make the children work together." Makoto looked to a clock, and then back to Maya. "You know, if you wanted to hear Aoba play, I'm sure it'd make him happy. There's nothing like flaunting a talent in front of your coworkers."

Maya looked uncertain. She was trying to talk herself into saying yes, but when she spoke, she hadn't succeeded. "No. I have an early day tomorrow. I really shouldn't. But tell him that I would like to know the next time he plays."

Makoto nodded. A bundle of clothes were set out for Maya. Makoto and she wished each other a good night, and were off to their separate residences.

**Scene Shift**

Shinji tried to sleep, but all he could do was stare up at the ceiling, wide-awake. His hormones called out to him, and it took all of his will to resist their insistent song. The problem was that he was living the fantasy of the average teenage boy, or at least the beginnings of it. He was in a house with two gorgeous women. One was an exotic, beautiful redhead from a foreign land. The other was an attractive woman in an authoritative position. Both were running around the house in what he thought was skimpy attire, showing as much skin as decency would allow. Low cut tank tops and shorts that stopped closer to the waste than the knee.

The worst was Misato's constant bending over, which let her low cut neckline hang down, almost daring Shinji to look. He had to fight his wandering eyes every time to keep from openly ogling the sight. Even though he knew it was wishful thinking, he got the odd feeling that the Major was doing it on purpose. It was certainly something he wasn't used to back home.

He should have been enjoying himself. And he was, but he was also nervous. He had never been around women like this before, at least not in so informal a setting. And either of them would likely take his head off if he demonstrated lecherous thoughts. Still…

Shinji's head rolled slightly to the side. The trio was sleeping on the floor. Asuka was resting on one side of Misato, and Shinji the other. All Shinji could see was Misato, but that was enough. Her purple hair shined from the light coming in from the window. He was aware of her very feminine curves under the covers. Her back was to him, and he thought it was safe to look.

"Shinji. What are you doing?" Misato asked tiredly.

"Nothing!" Shinji rolled over quickly, and brought his knees closer to his chest, almost in a fetal position. His back was now to Misato's.

"Baka hentai." Asuka muttered disgustedly from the other side of the Major.

**Scene Shift**

Rei and Hikari walked together from the school to Misato's apartment. They had opportunities to talk during the day, and had warmed to each other's presence considerably. Asuka had let Hikari know a lot of the details of the recent battles, surprisingly enough with Misato's permission. Consequently, Rei actually had someone she could talk about work to, which was especially nice since Shinji wasn't home.

Rei was making her displeasure known about Asuka. "And in the next battle, she jumped on the roofs of two buildings. Two! She has no respect for the collateral damage that an Eva Unit can cause. Those aren't just random structures there for her benefit."

Hikari looked down. It wasn't her natural inclination to argue with people's opinions. This might seem to clash with the almost authoritative attitude she had in the classroom, but trying to get people to behave orderly and disagreeing with someone were totally different things. And she could see why Rei might have reason to dislike Asuka. "Asuka told me that she had to jump on those buildings to get traction. She could have never pulled off what she called her 'Uber-strike' if she didn't have it. She said the attack would have killed a normal Angel, so you have to wonder if she has a point."

"Are you taking her side?" Rei looked off. "Of course you are."

"I'm playing devil's advocate."

"I'll say." Rei laughed. "Even if I grant that, she chopped off my Eva's arm. I feel whatever Unit-00 feels, so it's like she sliced off my own arm. Saying that it hurt is an understatement. And she has me out of commission because of that."

"I'm sure she didn't mean it. Asuka doesn't seem like the type of person to take a cheap shot. She would want you to know if she were going to do something to you." Hikari shrugged. "I guess. I haven't known her long, but that is how it seems to me."

Rei shrugged. "Actually, that does sound right. I still hate her though. And she has the audacity to try and beat up on Shinji. He won't hit a girl, so she can get away with giving him a lot of abuse." Rei looked at Hikari, and saw the look on the freckled-girl's face. "Go ahead, devil's advocate."

"Well… Shinji's hand was drifting low."

"Shinji was not grabbing her rear. God, that's even disgusting to think about. He's a gentleman."

Hikari nodded. "I've always thought so too. He seems like a really nice guy. I sort of hope he and Asuka get together."

Rei stopped, and looked at Hikari shocked. "He is way too good for her. Purge those nasty thoughts from your mind, Mr. Hiroki."

"Don't you want Shinji to find someone?"

Rei nodded. "Of course. It just has to be someone nice. Not some foreign demon girl that will treat him bad. If it were someone like… I don't know… like you, it would be fine."

Rei perked up as she noticed several of the vehicles around the apartment building, missing Hikari's embarrassed blush. Section Two had standard issue automobiles, and by her count there were three of them here. She looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Tukagi Ikita. She hadn't seen him since she had been on the U.S.S 'Over the Rainbow' and she had wanted to desperately. She was disappointed when she didn't notice him with the two agents she could locate at the base of the building.

Rei and Hikari made their way to Misato's loft, and were ushered in by Misato. Inside, they saw Shinji and Asuka squaring off against two grown men. Both sported black slacks and white shirts. Two black jackets were slung over a chair.

One of the men turned to see who had come in. Shinji rushed him then, and Asuka darted to the man's right. Shinji tried to knock the man over, but just succeeded in making the man shift a little. Asuka came in from the side, and pushed the man while he was off balance. The man fell. Shinji was turning to the next one, when he realized that he was being thrown to the ground. The world spun around, and he found his back had hit the mat on the floor with enough force to knock the wind out of him. Asuka came over to try and get the man off of Shinji, but found the assailant she had knocked over had grabbed her foot. He used his other arm to sweep her off her feet, and rose as she hit the ground.

Asuka, still lying on her back, kicked the mat in anger. "THIS SUCKS!"

Shinji had been struggling for breath, which he had gotten back in some small amount. "I thought… we had them… that time."

"Okay guys, take a break." The two section two agents walked out the door, leaving the apartment to Misato, her pet, and the four teenagers. She turned to Shinji and Asuka. "You did better then. The two of you were cooperating that time. Your opponents were physically overpowering, but I needed for you to fight people with accelerated skill levels. In an Eva, that would have been your fight."

Misato looked up cheerfully to her guests. "We've got company. Let's visit."

Shinji rolled his eyes when he saw that Rei's attention keep shifting to the door where the Section Two agents had went outside. When she turned her attention back to him, he let her off the hook. "He's not here, Rei."

Rei blushed, and turned her gaze to the floor.

**Scene Shift**

The next pair of days went by quickly, even though Shinji and Asuka began to seriously grate on each other's nerves. Still, progress was being made. The two started to get the best of a variety of Section Two bodyguards. Misato taught them how to waltz. The worst exercise by a large margin was the rhythm pads Misato brought in, which were some demented form of solitary twister. Both had to touch squares on their respective mats in harmony, which was much more difficult that a person might suppose. Asuka continually blamed Shinji for their failure. Her accusations were often accompanied by outbursts of anger, such as throwing her headphones at him, or even once kicking him in the groin. Shinji had kicked the girl in the shin for that, and Misato had been forced to intercede before the confrontation escalated.

Misato decided to discontinue visits. In her opinion, Rei represented a destabilizing force. And Misato wanted Shinji and Asuka to make some sort of breakthrough. On the last day before the battle, Misato had been sure to leave a German cookbook where Shinji could find it. She made an excuse to be out for the beginning of the night, leaving the two to their own devices.

'Don't let me down,' she thought, her mind going to Shinji in particular, but to Asuka as well. 'Make this all worth the trouble.'

**Scene Shift**

Asuka was in her room, savoring some time away from her new roommates. She was studying a translation text, trying to get a better grip on the Kanji. Her headphones were playing some music from her homeland that she had downloaded. The track list finally ended, leaving silence. Or what should have been silence. The sound of a cello drifted in from the other room. She got up to investigate, and found Shinji playing the instrument. She waited for him to finish, and clapped her hands when he did several minutes later.

Shinji's face reddened, and his eyes met hers shyly. "I'm sorry. I tried to check in, and let you know I was going to play. You had your music on, and were lost in what you were doing. I didn't want to disturb you. When I couldn't get an answer from you, I didn't think this would."

"You shouldn't be so meek and apologetic, Shinji. It's not manly." Asuka softened her rebuke with a smile. "Besides, I thought you played okay. You're not bad."

Shinji nodded, and looked down again. That tendency was something that could get on Asuka's nerves very quickly, but for the moment she had not yet erupted into chastisement and anger. The boy continued. "I found one of Misato's books in the hall. According to the writing on the inside of the cover, it was a souvenir from her stay in Germany. It described how to prepare German dishes. I remembered you saying something about liking kraut." Shinji's natural tendency to pronounce the vowels of the word separately, as if it was a Japanese expression, made the term almost indiscernible.

Asuka looked to the table, where the book was lying open, and smiled. "You know you're going to make a mess of it."

Shinji lit up, a gleam in his eye now. "It sounds like you doubt my culinary abilities."

Asuka smirked. "You Japanese try to put soy sauce on everything. It'll taste so salty that no one will be able to eat it."

"I take that as both a personal insult and a challenge."

So it was that Shinji spent the next pair of hours in the kitchen, cooking and sweating. Asuka was restricted from entering the room. She spent the time pretending to watch the television. In truth, listening to pans drop and the quiet cursing that would follow that, or words of disgust due to some unclear entry in the cooking instructions, was amusement enough. When the noise became quieter, and the odor stronger, Asuka knew it was about time.

"Come, Herr Sohryu."

Asuka looked at Shinji levelly. "Stupid baka. That's not even…" Asuka paused in her berating, getting another whiff of the food. "Never mind."

Shinji watched her expectantly as she went to the table, sat down, and got her first bite. She chewed on it slowly, and was careful to keep her face neutral. It was hard not to smile as she tortured the boy by purposely taking her time. Finally, she decided to let him off the hook, and swallowed. "It's not bad. It barely tastes like what it's supposed to, mind you, but you could've done worse. Where did you find the ingredients anyway? All I've been able to find in Japan along the lines of meat is fish, fish, and squid. With this much pork for variety." Asuka held her fingers up, with about an inch space between them.

"Misato already had them in the fridge. I thought about not using them, but figured however bad a job I might do with it, Misato would do worse. Chances are she would have put it all in a pot and poured instant ramen over the top of it."

Both laughed at the thought. The dinner was filled with Asuka talking about Germany, first starting with the food she missed, but then onto different things. She missed the fact that when someone spoke, she didn't have to concentrate to make sure she heard the words correctly. Or the fact that etiquette was evident in the right proportions. The Japanese, Asuka felt, were too nice when one on one. In public, they seemed to forget all about the idea of congeniality.

"I had no idea you were having problems understanding the language. I would have talked slower."

Asuka seemed indignant. "I don't. I just don't like the attention it takes. When one speaks their native tongue, the meaning of the words comes automatically."

They moved to the living room, and took up their usual spots. Shinji was lying on his stomach, watching the television. Asuka was on her back, her leg up on the couch. She stretched one up in the air, and noticed the way Shinji's gaze flicked to it for just a moment before coming back to her. "Do you know what I miss most of all though?" Asuka reopened the conversation.

Shinji shook his head.

"Furniture. A sofa is nice, but this country could really do with some more beds."

Shinji shrugged, and the two watched television for a while. Asuka sprung up suddenly. She looked at Shinji accusingly. "What did we forget to do tonight?"

"I don't know."

The redhead started wagging her finger at the boy in an almost scolding manner. "We forgot our pilot training."

"I thought you were sick of it."

"I am, but some parts are more tolerable than others. For instance, I really like fighting the bodyguards. But since we don't have any spares handy, I suppose that a dance wouldn't hurt anything."

Shinji nodded, and got up. Asuka had already drug the radio out, and had found a CD she liked. She put it in, and an instrumental came on. She made one last adjustment to the volume, and then faced Shinji with one arm raised to the side.

Shinji stepped in, clasping her hand in his, and bringing his hand around to the small of her back. The song played, and the two glided around the living room. When it was over, a slower song came on, and Asuka smiled. "I'm a little tired from all this training. I think a slow dance might be better, to make sure we're not too fatigued for tomorrow."

Shinji nodded, and picked up the easy steps of the dance from Asuka. It was a simple two-step, and ended up making the two move around in a circle. Shinji enjoyed the feel of Asuka pressing on his body. He spent the whole time studying her face, and looking in her eyes. He dug through his brain for anything else he might have seen on television or the movies that was appropriate for the moment. She returned the attention, and he was acutely aware of how close their faces were. They went through the majority of the dance without a glance away. Shinji's hand slipped down a little, and he almost missed a step as he pulled the hand back up in a panicky way. Asuka still had her eye on the boy, whose look of frightened expectation became one of shock when he felt the girl's hands on his backside. Seeing the mischievous glint in the girl's eyes, and feeling more than a little emboldened, he leaned his face in closer to hers. Asuka closed her eyes.

An insistent knock at the door interrupted anything the two might have done.

Asuka muttered something that might have been 'sheiss' and walked to the radio, turning it off. Shinji straightened out his clothes, and un-tucked his shirt. He was going to answer the door, but seeing that Asuka was on her way to answer it, he decided instead to sit on the couch.

He heard Asuka declare in surprise. "Sub-commander Ikari. Welcome."

**Scene Shift**

Two gargantuan forms stood serenely on a beach. One looked almost horned from a distance, but upon closer inspection the protrusion spotted a grip, like that of a knife handle. The other still entity had a small piece of cylindrical shaft protruding from the front of its chest. This was all that was left of the handle of a spear after an N2 explosion had rendered the Angels inert. It still had a point barely coming out of its back. The majority of the still-lodged spearhead was stuck inside of the creature.

Slowly, the knife began to come out of the head of the first one. It fell free, and the wound where it had been sealed itself quickly. At the exact same instance, the beings looked up. Air was displaced under the duo, and they began to float towards Tokyo-3.

**Scene Shift**

At headquarters, the bridge at Nerv was filled with controlled panic and activity.

"The Angels have reactivated three hours ahead of Magi projections."

Misato looked to the screens, which showed Uni-01 and Unit-02 releasing their constraints. "Good thing we were already ahead of schedule." In truth, Misato had kept the Evas prepped for the last two days. Asuka and Shinji were on standby in the base today, and were ready for launch in minutes.

"Do you two know what to do?" Misato called out over the communication link to the pilots.

"Improvise." Asuka said the word with glee.

Misato nodded. "Don't forget about the barriers we have around the sortie site. You can activate them quickly. And don't forget your training."

"Dog pile one of them the first chance we get." Shinji smiled.

Misato watched the launch with a little trepidation. She still had some misgivings about Asuka's ability to work in tandem. The German was prone to running out and taking things on herself. She hoped the last five days had changed that unfortunate tendency, or at least muted it.

The Evas made it to the surface at close to the same time. Unit-01 was able to get to an umbilical station, but Unit-02 came under fire from the Angelic beings immediately. Asuka jumped back to a barrier, and raised it. Energy blasts slammed into the metal and left scorch marks, but otherwise there was no effect. Unit-02 pulled out its prog knife, and Asuka shouted to the bridge. "Activate the launch rails in my vicinity.

Misato looked to Aoba Shigeru, and nodded. "Do it."

Rails came out of the ground as an opening appeared behind Unit-02. Asuka could see the Angels coming for her over the top of the wall she had raised, and jumped back onto the rails. "Bring Unit-02 down to routing point 2."

"Asuka, what the Hell are you doing?" Shinji called out in alarm.

"Watch and learn, First Child."

Unit-01 had secured an automatic rifle while the Angels had been concentrating on the red android. Shinji jumped on the closest Angel, and was able to knock it to the ground. He saw the tip of the spearhead in its back, and unloaded his ammunition into the wound. Bits of hide flew off, and Shinji was pleased to see his shots were having more effect than in the first battle.

The other half of the duo knocked Unit-01 off its comrade. It swiped with the small claw of its hand and tore a gouge of armor from the side of Unit-01. Shinji unloaded a few more shots into his chosen victim's back, and ducked another strike from his new foe. He jumped back, his progress followed closely by more energy bolts. The concentric, octagonal lines of the A.T. Field appeared in front of Unit-01, and the shots bounced off.

The Angel began advancing on Unit-01. About two-thirds of the way over, the ground suddenly opened beneath the Angel.

"Release the clamps ten foot below ground level," Asuka shouted. Her Eva had been rerouted to ascend at any nearby separate port, having waited below ground at a juncture for the launch routes. Shinji had finally lured the Angel over one such egress.

The timing was perfect. The Angel had no time to react as Unit-02 went soaring towards it from below. The progressive knife that Asuka had kept at the ready sliced into the monstrosity, starting just left of the crouch and going deep into the Angel's trunk.

"Asuka, don't cut it in two again!" Shinji called out.

"Idiot, I know that."

The Angel floated back to it fallen compatriot, which was now upright again. The two forms flowed into each other and made the original construct that the children had first encountered. The only difference was the damage around its body, which while not as severe as any the children had caused to the being's component parts, was still noticeable.

"You've got it on the ropes. Remember, only piercing or blunt damage." Misato instructed.

"Yeah, yeah. People don't let you forget anything around here." Asuka griped.

"And try and get the Angel away from the city before destroying its S2 organ."

Shinji opened fire again on the Angel as Asuka found an umbilical connection. Her battery timer displayed the 88:88:88 that indicated external electrical power was now being used.

"Ready?" Shinji called out.

"I'm always ready. Let's make this Angel look stupid."

"Okay. You're the pusher then."

Unit-01 ran to a nearby building, and stopped suddenly. Its feet dug first in the pavement, and then through it. As the android's muscles strained, it was able to alter the massive inertia of its path. Instead, it dove back, to the flank of the Angel. The being turned to attack the Eva and Unit-02 ran forward. As Unit-01's path crossed behind the Angel's legs, Unit-02 crashed into the being. The move resulted in the Angel being knocked off balance and towards the nearest boundary of the city. The force of Unit-02's impact ensured the distance the Angel traveled took it clear of Tokyo-3.

On the bridge, Misato smiled. She had seen that move before, usually on playgrounds, as one child would squat behind another and a third would push. She had encountered it most recently while watching the children fight their bodyguards.

Asuka detached her umbilical line again, and saw that the battery recharge had only amounted to a few extra seconds. "We've got to make this quick. I only have forty-five seconds of power left."

"It's still down. Let's take it out with a kick to the S2 organ."

The two Evas leapt into the air, and both managed to land a foot on the red circular object in the Angel's chest. The Angel went sliding beneath the two. Shinji knew they had destroyed it when partway into the slide an explosion erupted from beneath his Eva's foot. It flung the two Androids into the air, and crashing into the hill nearby.

On the bridge, Makoto called out. "Target is silent."

Misato looked back up to the command deck, where Commander Fuyutsuki and Sub-commander Ikari were watching. Yui still looked dour, but the news of a victory was able to cut into her mood somewhat. "The operation is a success."


	14. Scenario no Yui Chapter 14

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion

Cyber Undead once again deserves credit for proofreading this story. He's a good guy.

**Chapter 14**

Asuka was walking along the busy street, giggling madly with Hikari in a heart-felt manner that seemed to by the specialty of teenage girls.

"This trip is going to be great. I love scuba diving."

Hikari nodded her agreement. "I'm just glad to be getting out of Tokyo-3. We never get to go on trips."

"And there are a few boys I wouldn't mind seeing in swimming trunks."

Hikari looked scandalous, but still kept a jovial attitude. "Like who?"

"Well, there's Fujita. And I think Kiyoshi would make a particularly tasty specimen."

Hikari nodded. "And don't forget Shinji and Touji."

Asuka looked at Hikari suspiciously. "Why did Touji's name come to your mind?"

Hikari looked away, embarrassed by Asuka's attention to her remark. "I don't know. I just think he would."

Asuka shrugged. "I guess. He seems like a bit of a dimwit to me. But of course, that's not what we were talking about."

"I don't think he's dumb."

Asuka perked an eyebrow, and smiled. "I think Miss Hiroki is a little defensive. Could it be she's… boy-crazy?" Asuka accented the comment by lightly tickling the back of Hikari's neck, which made the freckled girl cringe.

"Hey!"

Asuka nodded her head sagely. "That's a positive on the test. The patient has a 'thing' for the lug."

Hikari looked back at Asuka. Her gaze was filled with equal parts of indignation, embarrassment, and disapproval. "I don't like for you to tease me, Asuka."

Asuka put an arm around the girl in good-spirited camaraderie. "I guess I won't then. But seriously, Touji?"

"What about Shinji? He's nice, and you two have been spending a lot of time together."

Asuka waved a hand. "That's part of the job. I think he's agreeable, but he's a little runty. He wouldn't look as good in a pair of swim trunks." Asuka let loose a dream-filled sigh. "If only you had met Kaji. That was a real man! He had broad shoulders, and a few days growth of beard stubble. His body was just perfect, and he was so suave and sophisticated."

"How old was he?"

"He was in his twenties."

Hikari wore a slight look of disapproval. "That's getting on in years, Asuka. He's almost a geezer."

Asuka put her hands on her hips. "I finished University a year ago. I'm a pilot in the military, and one that drives the most specialized and vital piece of machinery on the planet. I would say I'm grown up enough." Asuka looked up at a shop. "Oh, let's go in here."

Hikari saw the swimsuits on the female mannequins in the window, and her cheeks reddened. "I have a swimsuit, Asuka. Those look… racy."

"It'll be my treat. I have a lot of money left over from my paycheck and moving expenses. This is a drop in the bucket." Asuka noted Hikari's reluctance, and leaned in conspiratorially. "It'll help you look pretty for any special boys."

Hikari's blush returned in full force, but she allowed the German girl to lead her in.

**Scene Shift**

Kozo was trying to take his current scolding with good grace. Still, Yui would not be satisfied until she had chewed his ass off and spit it on the floor. Had anyone asked him an hour before if something could make him lose his calm demeanor, he would have told that person that it was doubtful. Yui had done a sufficient job of educating him.

"… And you should have seen the guilty looks on their faces." Yui was saying, her anger continuing to build up. There seemed to be no end of it, and it defied all the laws of friction and inertia. Instead of slowing down, it kept burning brighter and brighter. "They couldn't have looked anymore blameworthy if they tried. Who leaves a teenage girl and boy alone, let alone demands they sleep together."

"Misato was keeping a close eye on them, Yui, especially around bed time."

"Misato was nowhere to be found. And she didn't show up until well past ten o'clock. I'll have you know that woman didn't even call and check on them. Were you two trying to get my son laid, Fuyutsuki? Because you could have just drove him over to Tokyo-2, and checked him into a hotel with one of those girls from the red ads. Actually, I have to say I'm surprised you didn't. It was foolish to allow the possibility of… well, Shinji and Asuka getting together. Do you know how bad it would be if they should have to fight together while being confused by passionate thoughts? They'll end up dead because of bad judgment during a battle. Stupid is not even sufficient to describe the mental deficiency that afflicted you to think that was a good idea. I can understand it from Misato; in fact, I expect such things from her. But you, Kozo?"

"Would it matter if I pointed out that the strategy worked, and the two defeated the Angel? I doubt it, but I'm curious." Kozo let one hand drift up to his forehead, and lightly rubbed two of his fingers in circles on one of his temples.

Yui glared at him evilly. "The training could have been done differently. I'm tired of you using that excuse for a crutch to limp through this mess. Wasn't it obvious when Rei was restricted from visiting Shinji what was going on? You are not a stupid man, current evidence to the contrary, so I have to assume you saw this coming together and approved it!"

Kozo placed a hand down on the desk forcefully. Yui, having never seen such aggressive action from the Commander, was stunned a moment. Kozo seemed surprised by the move himself, but was able to recover faster than his Sub-Commander.

"I'm sorry that we ran a risk of Shinji and Asuka becoming intimately involved. I take the full burden of guilt for that. Misato was doing what she thought best, and did it with my sanction. But let's be honest: this anger and hostility is due only in part to that incident."

Yui blinked, and then narrowed her eyes. "Kozo, I really hope you are not going to put a head trip on me. If you think I'm mad now, just try that."

"The only time you get truly mad is when your children are in danger. But there are other things at work. We haven't been close lately. I miss it, but you wanted your space, and I've done everything I can to grant it. In fact, I believe I may have been too accommodating. Now you want to drive the rift further, and this is an excuse to do it."

Yui was about to protest. "I don't…" The comment trailed off as she set her anger aside and tried to view the accusation with an impartial eye. "You did not do the job I wished in watching over my children. But maybe, and I really want to emphasize the word maybe, what you say has truth to it."

Yui finally sat down, and like that, the anger seemed to drain from her. She looked up at Kozo. He noticed with a mixture of approval and disappointment that her eyes were still dry. A few months before, such conversations as these would have brought her to tears, but now her mental resilience had adapted to the stress of watching Rei and Shinji go into battle. Also in the mix was globe trotting, searching for artifacts, making dark deals, and managing projects that were at best amoral. He was glad, because the trials that they would put Rei and her son through might break her if she couldn't step away a little. But the woman's tenderness was one the things Kozo most loved about her. He hated to see it disappearing.

"Gendo was your first love. I don't think anyone gets over his or her earliest romantic relationship. Such people always have a special place in the heart. In addition, there's the fact that you both had a child together, and that he sacrificed himself to keep you from entering the Eva. I understand that after everything, you still want him to have a place to return to. And I know how you could see me as someone who convinced you into betraying him." Kozo rose from his desk, and walked to the woman as he continued talking. "I don't know what to do to make this right. I was going to take the hit and be the bad guy, if it would give you some peace of mind. But I can't bear you seeing me in that light. It's selfish of me, and if I had any nobility of character, I would have kept my mouth shut and let you hate me. I just…can't."

He ended his journey over to her, and let himself rest on his knees. He grabbed her hand into both of his, and looked in her eyes.

"Kozo…"

"I've cloned a girl, and pushed her off on the woman I loved, knowing full well that woman would form an attachment with her. I also knew millennia old mandates deemed this girl would die. I have captured and pierced the progenitor of the human race. I keep her perpetually wounded with the most powerful weapon on earth, a guaranteed painful process, so that I can have an enhancement for my pilots. I routinely lie, twist fate to my will, and send children to battle in my stead, knowing that nowhere in the prophecies is there a guarantee of their survival." Kozo let one hand cup her chin. "Yui, if you ask me to be the villain, if that is what you need to make things easier, then I will be. Heaven knows I have earned such a designation. I stand in the path of the will of God, and slay his heralds as they approach. It does not get much more evil than that."

Yui stroked his gray hair. "If there is anything bad in your nature, it is because I placed it there. I've asked a lot of you, Kozo. Sometimes I forget that. You were just a humanitarian doctor working for nothing after Second Impact. Everything else is because of Gendo and I asked it of you."

Yui began to rise, and Kozo went to follow her up. He grimaced a little in pain partway through the process, and Yui helped him the rest of the way into a standing position. "You're getting a little old for such melodramatic postures."

"Now you tell me." Kozo smiled, and stroked her cheek. "Let's just think about things for now. I'm not sure running with our passions is the wisest thing to do, be they negative or positive. Gendo is most likely coming back. You have to decide what that means. You've had space, but I think you've been avoiding pondering the repercussions from the events that are unfolding. It may be that we need to stay apart, to make sure our sentiments do not cause us to make a bad move at this point of the scenario. More is at stake than our happiness, and after all this time it would be a pity to drop the ball now."

"Such detachment can't be good for the soul."

"It is said misery can build character. You'll find that all things have an inherent opportunity to nurture the spirit."

"Kozo, you are a man wise beyond your years."

Kozo chuckled. "You have obviously forgotten how many years I have to draw upon."

Yui kissed him on the cheek, and turned to leave. As she neared the door, her head swiveled back, and she wore a suspicious look. "If I'm not mistaken, you did just do a head trip on me."

Kozo shrugged. "I talked about what needed to be said."

Yui smirked, and closed the door.

**Scene Shift**

Asuka slammed her hands down on the table. "What!"

"You won't be going on the trip." Misato made the comment from behind an upraised can of beer.

"Why not!"

Misato let lose a long-suffering sigh. "Because you are a pilot, and therefore on standby. It's part of your job to stay within the vicinity of the Eva you'll be manning."

"What idiot came up with that policy?"

Misato pointed a finger at herself. "This idiot."

Asuka was not a person prone to backtracking. Her anger at being denied this trip only ensured she wouldn't let up. "You've got Shinji and Rei to take care of things here. I don't see why you can't let the wonder twins cover while I take this trip."

"We could do that. Of course, we would have to reconfigure Unit-02 for Rei."

Asuka's face turned red. She looked as if she would say something for a moment, but instead closed her mouth and went stomping to her room. She closed her sliding door hard, which merely resulted in the wooden panel bouncing back open partway. She slid it shut and held it, then went to her bed and turned on her radio.

"So I take it you're staying." Misato called cheerily at the door.

In response, the volume of the radio increased.

Misato looked down at Pen-pen, who had taken a spot on the floor beside her. "We need to give her a while to cool off. I guess while we're doing that, I could run you a hot bath."

The penguin, displaying a clear understanding of what his owner was saying, started waddling from side to side in what Misato thought of as his 'happy dance.'

**Scene Shift**

Maya had just returned from retrieving some hard copies for Dr. Akagi from the Eva cages. Upon her arrival, she found the woman at her desk. Maya walked into the room, silent as ever, and heard Naoko murmur to herself. Not wanting to disturb a great mind at work, she silently slipped to an unobtrusive position nearby.

"…Doing better than the fucking cats!" Naoko muttered, her fingers still strumming the keyboard. Then the doctor started cackling. Maya instantly regretted the fact that she had been so quiet. The technician immediately resolved to start knocking when coming around Naoko.

Maya cleared her throat softly, but wherever Naoko's mind had settled itself, it was not predisposed to being pried from the place. Maya, with just a few more decibels, made the same noise. Naoko's head snapped up, and took in Maya. "Ms. Ibuki."

Maya smiled sweetly, if not nervously, and held several disks and written reports in front of her. "Here's the information you asked for."

Naoko looked at Maya, seeing something there she had rather not. "You were very efficient. I asked for these only ten minutes ago."

Maya wasn't sure that the statement was sarcasm or praise. She shuffled her feet nervously. "I did them as fast as I could."

Naoko sighed. "I suppose so." Naoko noted the nervous look on her assistant's face. "I was talking to myself again, I take it."

Maya turned her head aside, but nodded an affirmative. "You were talking about cats."

"I have… nervous habits. I'm still the person that I was, Maya." The doctor grabbed Maya's hand, and patted it lightly. Maya was immediately set at ease, as the gesture reminded her of something her grandmother would do, before Second Impact had taken her. Naoko looked at her and smiled. "If I had known to do things like that," her slight inclination of the head indicated where she had Maya's hand, "maybe I wouldn't have lost my daughter. It weighs heavily on me sometimes."

"What happened…" Maya paused uncomfortably. "Permission to speak freely, ma'am."

"Always, Maya."

"Whatever disagreement you and your daughter had, she was the one at fault."

Naoko let her hand drift to the folders and discs Maya had brought back. "The grape vine has cast me as the victim now? I feel honored. Or perhaps you have taken second-hand information and added your own bias to it." Naoko noticed Maya's slight flinch. "That was unfair. I appreciate what you are trying to say, Ms. Ibuki. But I tell you, what guilt others attribute to me, it is not enough." Naoko flipped open a report, and started inputting data. "Care to know how the program is going?"

"I'm not sure what the program is, ma'am."

"I'm attempting to check the data we have collected on the Angels for overall patterns. Also, since the Angels appear to be adapting to our counterattacks, I am trying to discern the course of their change, to see what the next Angel's configuration may bring."

"Any success, ma'am?"

Naoko looked to the door, which was closed. She turned back to Maya. "What I am going to tell you is a secret that requires the utmost discretion. I'm not sure if knowing it is to your benefit. I doubt the Commander and Sub-Commander would want this to be common knowledge, or even suspects that their staff has contemplated the nature of the attacks. The only reason I mention it to you is because I need a confidante, and there is no one on this Earth I trust more than you."

Maya nodded. "Thank you. I… should I hear this, ma'am?"

Naoko shook her head, and hit a key on the keyboard. The screen on her computer went dark. "No Maya, you shouldn't. It was selfish of me to start this. It would put a burden on you that you didn't need."

Maya reached over Dr. Akagi, and tapped a sequence of keys. The monitor came back up. "I want to know, ma'am. I'll… I'll help you."

Naoko looked into Maya's eyes, searching. "Are you sure?" Maya nodded in reply. Naoko turned back to the screen. "Here is an extrapolation from the Magi of the Angels' combat tactics and trends."

Maya looked at the data and charts on the screens. Her studious look turned into a frown as she scrolled down, taking in the statistics and projections. She turned to the doctor, puzzled. "Does this mean that the Angels want us to win?"

Naoko shrugged. "I'm not sure. It certainly means that even though the Angels are accelerating their offensive capacity, they are not capitalizing on it."

One glaring piece of information had skewed the Magi's estimation of the Angels: the ability to project an AT Field. According to the Magi, all of the Angels should have been able to create an AT Field on whim. Yet only the third and fifth Angels had used that capacity to any noticeable effect. Earlier in the deliberation between the three computers, the idea had been tossed around that newer Angels had abandoned the use of AT Fields, in the most part because the tactic had been proven unsuccessful before. Ultimately, the Magi had thrown that out two to one because the recent Angel attack demonstrated that the Angels could still project Absolute Terror Fields, and that these were effective enough to turn the tide of the battle. It was decided that the most recent Angel, Israphel, had suffered a diminishment in AT Field capacity because it could separate itself. Maya wondered why that would color the Magi's decision.

The only time that the AT Fields were being used were strictly as reactionary means to make for a more even fight. During Shinji's debut battle, Unit-01 had attacked with such ferocity that the only way the Angel could stall it was by creating the barrier. Ramiel, the diamond-like fortress that had tried to drill to headquarters, emitted it to better effect. If any of the other Angels had use the force fields as effectively as Ramiel, then Nerv could very well be no more.

Maya looked down to the analysis of tactics as a whole in the Angel attacks. "This one was easy to pick up. The Angels come, establish a superior stance on the battlefield and send the Evas back to lick their wounds…" Maya paused to look at Naoko.

Naoko smiled. "I've programmed the Magi to occasionally be inventive with layman phrases. It helps when they monitor communications for things that might be of interest to Nerv."

Maya nodded, and struggled to find what she had been saying. "We lick our wounds, rally, and defeat them in a second attack." Maya looked at the screen, and smiled as she continued reading. "It's almost formulaic." Her gaze drifted back up to the doctor. "You're teaching the Magi to use emoticons?"

Naoko smiled. "They are experimenting with different writing styles. Don't worry; they're not going to become cute with it. I'll purge it from the system if need be before that happens. What's important to notice is that the Angels are, in general, giving up the advantage inherent in being the aggressor and instead settling on a quasi-state that tries to take advantage of being both attacker and defender."

"Meaning, the Angels want the benefits of both?"

"Meaning the Angels are giving us a chance to respond. Even with the scramble time reduced down to six minutes, the Angels could have made serious headway into headquarters several times. Instead, they parked and waited on the Evas. The most recent Angel did not get the chance to utilize the tactic, but most of the others behave in this manner."

Maya pointed at a chart on Gagiel, the Angel that had attack Unit-02 during transit. "Do the Magi seriously doubt that this is an Angel?"

Naoko nodded. "To date, the Angels have been coming for headquarters. The fights with the Evas have been incidental. The attack on the Pacific fleet deviated from that so strongly that the Magi have tried all kinds of possibilities to explain it away." Naoko pointed at one.

Maya smirked. "Mutated terrestrial life form and faulty wave pattern sensors?" The shorthaired tech looked back to Naoko. "Do the computers believe it was Godzilla?"

Naoko laughed. "Like I said, you can almost feel them reaching. If the next Angel had attacked somewhere other than Nerv, the Angels' attack locale could have been dealt with better. The most likely explanation is that the Angels updated their attack strategy to target an Eva unit. Assuming that the Angels are trying to create a fairly equal confrontation with us, Unit-02 could be seen as unbalancing. An important thing that suggests this is that after the mass production model made it here, we experienced our first sortie with multiple assailants."

Maya frowned. "So, it's going to get worse."

"That's the only thing the Magi can agree on with a high probability. That, and how much worse it gets is related to our capacity to respond. Still, knowledge like this, if leaked, could make people react with less than their full abilities would allow. If we do not meet the Angels with anything other than our maximum effort, it might result in a loss. I'm not sure what the Angels' thinking is on the matter, and don't have any means to find out."

"These battles are unusual. Do the Angels have a sense of honor, Doctor?" Maya's studious face was tinged with alarm as she considered something. "What if we violate that honor accidentally?"

Naoko turned off the computer. "I can only speculate, Maya. But these feel like tests to me. The Angels seem to be challenging us at their own expense." Naoko got up and stretched. "I'm going to ask you to go back to your office. Think about what we've said. After a night's sleep, we'll talk about this further."

Maya nodded. She turned to leave, and skittishly turned back to Dr. Akagi. "I appreciate you trusting me with this, Dr. Akagi. I won't let you down."

"I'm just glad I have someone like you around, Maya."

Maya left the office, and Naoko looked back at her computer display. There was one thing Naoko had kept back. When Gagiel had attacked the Pacific Fleet, there was an unknown factor. That unidentified something had caused the Americans to arrest Kaji Ryoji.

It was a mystery item that the Commander and Sub-Commander knew about.

Why were the Angels trying to reach Adam?

**Scene Shift**

Rei hummed happily as she chopped up a roll of sushi, and put it into a compartment in her lunchbox. Yui was on her way out the door when she noted the girl's cheerfulness.

"Someone is awfully glad to be cooking." Rei looked up in surprise, believing her aunt had already left for work.

"It's 8 o'clock. You're late."

"I could say the same for you, young lady."

Rei shook her head. "The class is flying to Okinawa today. I can't go, so…" Noticing the look of scorn on Yui's face, Rei added, "What?"

"Shinji's grades were bad this time, and in most of the subjects that he passed, your own suffered. This is a fact that seems highly unusual. Someone would think that you children would get together and make a decent report card between yourselves. Today, I want you two to tutor each other: no malls, no swimming, no TV, and no games until you do."

There was a telephone ring, and Yui walked over to answer it. She listened briefly, and told whoever was on the other end that Shinji wasn't in. She let the caller know that he had gone to the pool, and wished them a good day. Rei looked curious as Yui put the phone back down.

"Someone for Shinji?" Rei queried, asking the obvious question.

"The Third Child was looking for him." Yui didn't sound particularly enthused, but the look that crossed Rei's face was downright hateful. "I want you to go to the pool, and study with him. He's doing his work before he goes swimming. It'll only be an hour or two's worth. Can you?"

Rei nodded. "I wouldn't want to leave him alone with that German hussy anyway. She'll just end up screwing up his head."

Yui would have rather not seen Asuka and Shinji spending any time together herself. Of course, it was natural for boys to want to spend time with girls at Shinji's age, and Asuka was pretty. Yui just loathed the idea of the two un-chaperoned.

"So, who's the bento box for, Rei?"

Rei's cheeks reddened. "Just someone nice."

"Your class is gone, and as far as I know only Shinji and Asuka stayed behind on the trip." Yui smiled teasingly. "Is it for me?"

Rei shook her head, but didn't answer. Yui laughed. "Okay, you can have your secret. Just be careful. I love you, niece."

"I love you too." Rei called back as Yui made her way out. Rei heard the door open and close, signaling her aunt's departure. She went back to work on the lunch and, with the thought of Shinji and Asuka being alone intruding occasionally on her happy mindset, she was able to prepare her food quickly.

Rei packed a swimsuit, and put it in a bag over her shoulder. Carrying the bento box, she walked into the morning air. She squinted at the change from fluorescent lighting to the bright sunlight, and searched around. Seeing the car she was looking for a block down, she went walking up to it.

The Section Two men were in the car, but, due to the window tint, Rei couldn't be sure which one was which. She politely tapped on the driver's side window, which rolled down. It was not the man she wanted to see, but in the passenger seat was the visage that had been filling her dreams lately. Had she not etched his face into her memory, the wrappings and arm sling would have given him away.

"Mr. Ikita. I made some extra lunch, and thought perhaps you and your partner might like some." Rei's face, which had been slightly red before, became almost crimson. Her pale skin did little to hide a blush. She held the box into the window, allowing the man to grab it over the driver. Then she noticed the sling was on his left arm. "I'm sorry. I can come around to the other side."

Tukagi reached out with his opposite hand, and grabbed the box easily. "You didn't have to do this, Ms. Ikari."

"Rei." The girl blushed further in embarrassment. Of course he knew what her name really was, how could she think he was that stupid. He smiled.

"Okay then, Rei. We appreciate this, but don't put yourself through too much trouble on our accounts."

"It wasn't any trouble." Rei let the words drift off sweetly. She was unsure of what to do next, and decided to leave before she made herself look foolish. Well, more foolish anyway. "I hope you have a good day." As an afterthought Rei added, "Both of you."

"We will. You too, and be careful as well."

Rei practically skipped away from the automobile towards the direction of school.


	15. Scenario no Yui Chapter 15

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion

I'm here to testify: Cyber Undead is a living god in the realm of proofreaders.

**Chapter 15**

Shinji was busily typing away on a keyboard that he had set up near the school's indoor swimming pool. The class was vacant, as everyone else had been sent to Okinawa. He and Rei had planned on doing some swimming, but his mom had been insistent that they get in some schoolwork first. He decided to start early while his cousin was making lunch for her crush. By ten, the weather would be right for a dip. He was already in his trunks, as there wasn't much chill in the morning air. There rarely was.

"What are you working on?" The feminine voice sounded close and definitely like Asuka's. That was a surprise; he hadn't expected to see the girl. When he had talked to her the night before, she was four shades of pissed off (as compared to her usual three) because she was missing the diving trip. The two were still in contact, even though he wasn't living with her and Misato anymore. Asuka and Rei still didn't like being around each other, so he had to split his time between the two. Since Asuka spent a lot of time around Hikari, which seemed to be one of the few girls Rei was friendly with, he stayed around his cousin more than the redhead. Still, he looked forward to visiting with the German.

He finished a problem, and looked up to the newcomer. His eyes practically bulged when he saw her swimsuit. "Physics…" Shinji was surprised he had managed to mutter that much. The redhead was wearing a two-piece with red and white stripes, and it wasn't particularly conservative. It took almost all of his willpower to tear his eyes away from her chest. 'If I stare at her breasts, I'll seem like a pervert.' The thought raced into his mind, and he knew with total certainty that it was true. But the darn things just kept filling his field of vision.

"Let's see… thermal expansion. Oh, that's kids stuff. I had this when I was ten."

"When?"

"I graduated college last year."

Shinji managed to finally make his eyes drift to Asuka's face. He was disappointed to see that after all of his effort, she was looking at the computer screen. It had been especially hard to look up since the redhead had bent over into him, practically inviting him to get a peek. His gaze went back to the preferred scenery as he continued talking. "But you are having problems with your grades."

Asuka sighed. "It's because I don't know the Kanji yet. If I could understand the questions, I could ace this school's tests."

Shinji was duly impressed. "That's… extraordinary."

Asuka read the problem he was working on. "Okay, thermal expansion. To put it in layman's terms, when something gets hot, it expands, and when it becomes cold, it contracts."

Shinji nodded. "That does sound easy enough. I wish this book would say it so simply."

Asuka turned to the side, and held her hands up to her chest. "Let's see if we can help you get it. Now, if I started warming my breasts with my hands, would they expand, or contract." Asuka waited a moment, and turned back to see Shinji with an intense look on his face. She gave the boy about ten seconds, and finally spoke up again. "Shinji?"

He looked up. "I have no idea of what we were talking about. I'm just waiting to see if you do anything."

"Good grief, Shinji." He turned to see his cousin had managed to slip in. Shinji and Asuka had been so intent on their lesson that it had been easy for Rei to walk up unnoticed. "Some foreign girl that goes around rubbing her chest in front of boys is bound to have some nasty diseases. She'll have AIDS, or herpes, or something."

"I'll have you know I am a woman of virtue, Rei Ikari. And it's because I choose to be, and not because I'm a sad loser who no one is trying to date, like some girls I know."

"I know you didn't mean me."

"Ladies, please don't fight." Shinji started to get up, and then, thinking better of it, tried to pass of the action as him adjusting in his chair. Asuka looked amused. "Let's just get through our studies so we can go swimming."

"I don't need to study. I just need to be allowed to have a translation text handy during tests." Asuka turned, and Shinji took in the back of her form. There wasn't a part on this girl that he didn't like. Asuka turned her head to them. "Go, and do your studies like obedient children. I'm going to practice my scuba diving."

Rei watched Asuka leave, and muttered, "Good riddance." She turned to see Shinji's glazed over look. She had come to identify it as a sign that he was having lecherous thoughts. She hit him on the arm, and he turned to her. "Shinji, do I have to remind you of how gross she is."

"You keep telling me, but I have a difficult time believing it."

"It would be like me getting the hots for Suzahara."

Shinji shuddered before turning back to his screen. "Point taken."

"Shinji, lookie lookie: a back flip entry." Shinji turned up to see Asuka beside the pool. She rolled back into a dive. He sighed longingly, and, noticing his cousin's stare, went back to his studies.

**Scene Shift**

Misato and Makoto were in the lab, overseeing the sensor pod's descent into an open magma flow. Misato had just decided to send the probe deeper, well past its safety level.

One of the laboratory workers looked nervously over at the Major. "At this depth, the probe will break."

Misato didn't take her eyes off the screen. "If it's destroyed, Nerv will pay for the damages." Misato let her attention go back to Makoto. "Continue the operation."

The probe got closer to the unknown target. As soon as she got a tone, she ordered Makoto to begin analysis. Within seconds, the sensor pod had collapsed under the pressure.

"Did we get it?"

Makoto nodded. "Barely. Confirmed wave pattern blue. It's an Angel."

Misato rose up. "This facility is now officially under Nerv's jurisdiction. All material is classified, and no one is to talk about the events from the last six hours. Communication with the outside world will be suspended for the duration of this operation. There will be no phone calls or emails for the immediate future."

Misato left the room and went to a hall where she could have some privacy. She dialed up a number for a phone line to the Control Room at Nerv. Aoba Shigeru picked up on the other end, and Misato didn't waste any time. "Get me into contact with Commander Fuyutsuki. I need him to issue an A-17."

**Scene Shift**

The Evas were brought quickly over to the Mt. Asamayama Seismological Monitoring Station. Asuka was designated as the primary pilot for the operation. Unit-02 was equipped with Type-D equipment, which was designed to withstand harsh environmental duress. Sub-Commander Yui Ikari and Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki placated the Committee as best they could, which had serious reservations about the A-17, which was an order for an offensive attack.

At the mobile headquarters that had been hastily established, Naoko was waiting for Maya to bring Major Katsuragi over to them.

"I'm sort of busy now, Doctor Akagi." Misato was walking hurriedly up to the Project-E Chairperson, and did not seem inclined to casual conversation.

"I brought along something you might find helpful." Naoko indicated a pair of coolant tubes on a screen. On the screen diagram, the pipes ran into the large bars the made up the magnetic containment cage that was going to be used in the operation.

"What's this?"

"I've been analyzing Angel combat tactics as of late, with the Magi's help. I was planning on sharing some of the data with you later today, but as you know, there have been other duties that needed attending to. Suffice it to say that if we can count on any kind of luck, it will be bad luck. The Angels have a penchant for rebuffing our initial attacks."

"So the coolant tubes?"

"If we are to make a successful capture, we should have a means of containing the Angel beyond the magnetic field. Even in this chrysalis stage, we have no indication that this Angel could not generate an AT Field, or morph into a form more suited for attack. We can use Bakelite on the surface to suspend activity once the Angel has been extracted, but during the dive it'll be of no use. The temperature is too extreme for the Bakelite to cool. The only encasement option we have outside of the magnetic cage is the magma itself. If we could cool it quickly enough, we can transform the lava into porous rock."

Misato looked incredulous. "In molten lava? Wouldn't the temperature outside the cage cause the encasement of rock to melt immediately back into its liquid form."

Naoko nodded. "Which is why we have to continually recycle the liquid helium we plan on using. My main concern is that rock will form around the spray nozzles," Naoko indicated four nozzles at the top corners of the capture apparatus, all pointing to the inside of the cage, "but the extreme temperature will work in our favor there. Whenever the temperature becomes too warm, the blockage will melt, and we can re-solidify the interior around the Angel. Of course, we've never had to worry about solidified rock gumming up the works before, so who knows if it'll pan out that way."

"Sounds iffy."

"I think we would do better to have this than go on without it. Of course, you are the Operations Director. I'll only put this in place with your permission."

Misato nodded. "Will this arrangement result in a significant loss of structural integrity with the bars of the capture assembly?"

Naoko nodded. "It can't be helped. But the construct counted on the strength of the magnetic casing more than it did on the integrity of the projection assembly."

Misato considered this for a moment. "Do it."

**Scene Shift**

Shinji looked overhead at the circling aircraft from his position in Unit-01. "What's that?"

"I was wondering about that as well." Rei chimed in from Unit-00. She flexed her shoulder again, checking to ensure that the repairs to Unit-00's reattached joint were adequate. So far she hadn't found any discernable flaws. She was still wary, because the repairs had seemed to happen so swiftly. She consoled herself with the fact that Asuka wouldn't be close by to sabotage her during this operation.

Maya chimed in, giving Naoko time to oversee the hookup of coolant lines instead of chitchatting with the pilots. "The U.N. Air Force will be watching overhead for the duration of this maneuver.

Asuka seemed slightly relieved to hear that. "So, we're getting help. Not that we need it, but that's nice."

Maya sounded sheepish in her reply. "No, they're here to ensure that the Angel does not break containment. If we don't succeed, they'll bomb the area with an N2 strike."

"This job sucks!"

Shinji got on the communication link after Asuka. "Who would order such a thing?"

Maya was looking for something to take her off the comm. link now. She didn't like the idea of instigating a talk that was critical of a superior. "Commander Fuyutsuki."

"We should be using his blood for coolant." Rei let her opinion of the man inflect in her comments, as if the words weren't enough.

**Scene Shift**

Asuka made her descent in Unit-02. The operation hit a serious snag when it was discovered that the convection current of the magma was flowing faster than initially estimated, and had caused the embryonic Angel to descend further. Straining the Type-D equipment almost past the breaking point, Misato ordered Unit-02 down further. With the correction to her visibility allowed by her CT monitor, Asuka was able to establish the presence of the Angel. The capture went off without a hitch, and tension bled from the crew as Unit-02 made its trip up.

Misato was on the comm. with her pilots. "Asuka, are you okay?"

"Of course. We have nothing to fear but fear itself. I just want to get out of this plug suit. It's like a sauna in here."

"Fatties always have trouble with the heat." Rei played on the Third Child's earlier protests about the fashion sense of an expanding plug suit.

"You're not contributing, Rei." Misato let disapproval drip into her warning.

"I apologize, Major."

"After this operation is over, we'll go to a nice hot springs. There's one nearby."

"What's this?" Asuka asked in alarm. "This Angel is going nuts."

Misato was quick on the draw. "Activate the cage coolant. We've got to stop this Angel from changing its current form."

Nearby, Aoba hit a button. The coolant, which had been slowly circulating through the lines to keep them from being melted by the magma, flooded into the interior of the containment cage. As the Angel's hands tried to break through the magnetic field that held it, rock formed around it. On the bottom side of the cage, the rock could be seen to be less solid as glowing orange peaked through cracks of grayish-black, much like a cooling volcanic flow.

"Triple the rate of ascent." Misato's commands were urgent. "We have to get Unit-02 topside now."

Even as he carried out Misato's commands, Makoto called out. "The coolant lines were not designed to withstand that sort of stress. The friction and drag caused by flowing lava will be tremendous."

"We only have three hundred meters to go. If we lose a line, slow down."

"Both nozzles have jammed. Liquid helium is back to a process of re-circulation."

Misato turned to Naoko. "Can we reel the Angel up by the coolant lines on the cage?"

"Either the lines or the cage bar itself would snap under that sort of pressure. Remember, we made this on the fly."

Misato listened intently as Maya read of the increments of ascent. The numbers rattled quickly. At fifty meters from surface contact, Makoto called out, "We've lost cables three and five. We have to slow down."

Almost at the same instant, Aoba was chiming in more bad news. "The cooled magma has reheated. The Angel is about to break through."

"Ascend at highest possible rate of speed," Misato called back. "We've almost made it top side."

The crane that wound all of the coolant lines that ran to Unit-02's Type-D equipment strained. There was no question of whether the winch would give out. It was only a matter of when.

For once, luck was with the Nerv crew. Just as Unit-02 emerged from the lava, the reel that had been winding so intently locked up.

Of course, to call it good fortune would have been to ignore other events happening at the same time.

"The Angel has broken out. It is still in the lava."

"Oh no you don't." Asuka cried out. The Angel, which had been swimming away, was suddenly seized by the claw from the environmental assembly of Unit-02. Asuka grabbed the Angel by the tail, and, with a shout of strained effort, flung the being out of the lava. The creature, which was still small relative to the Eva, went flying out of the crater, and onto a lip nearby.

"Unit-02 has snapped the other three coolant lines. The drag caused by propelling the Angel was too much."

"Get the Angel, Rei." Shinji called out. Unit-00 scrambled for the monstrosity, which was continuing to grow and flopping like a fish on the ground. Unit-01 jumped over the edge of the crater. Shinji saw with dismay that Asuka's Eva had already sunk into the lava. Shinji had calculated the jump perfectly, and was able to grab onto a tie that spanned across the five coolant lines that had so recently been hauling Unit-02 up. There was a tie every fifty meters to keep the tubes from crossing up. He reached into the magma with a scream of pain, and grabbed for Unit-02.

He felt the fingers of Unit-01 scrape briefly against metal. Then, despite how hard he tried, he couldn't feel anything except for raw, empty heat.

Rei began dragging the Angel away from the edge of the basin, and closer to the trucks that contained Bakelite. The Angel had grown fast, impossibly so, and was now bigger than the android that wrestled with it. It flopped its tail, which was where Unit-00 had its grip, and managed to heave the Eva into the air and then back on the ground with a hard impact. Rei grunted, but managed to keep her grip. The Angel turned around, displaying that it had either no backbone or one that was extremely flexible, and swiped at the blue android's arm. Clawed hands dug through armor and into the Eva's flesh, and caused the vise-like hold to finally be released. The Angel began dragging its way back to the lava, but Rei tackled the monster again, this time on its upper body. The Angel wiggled violently, and succeeded in turning around in the grapple to face its attacker. It opened its mouth, and bit down hard into Unit-00. In the plug, Rei's plug suit became covered with a dotted red line on her own body where the teeth were burying into Unit-00.

Unit-01 twisted upside down, locking a foot above the tie that it had been using for an anchor. Shinji flipped the golem upside down with dexterous ease, trying to move as quickly as possible. The result of the action was that Unit-01 was immersed into the lava, from the inverted head up to its thighs. The purple android reached down, and was able to grab Unit-02. Shinji encountered a problem, though, as he tried to bring them both back to the surface. The muscles in the Eva's leg weren't strong enough to do the job. He tried to concentrate, and searched with Unit-01's other foot for the spot on the line were its anchor foot was wedged in. He found it hard to focus because of the physical strain and pain. It felt as if parts of his body were burning off.

On the bridge, Misato called out. "All spray trucks, converge on Unit-00's position. Encase the Angel and the Eva both if you have to. We have to stop this Angel before it gets back into the lava pool." Misato turned over to Naoko. "What can we do about Shinji?"

Naoko had been more worried about Rei. Her sync ratio had suddenly spiked. It was much higher than she wanted it to be. She was suddenly overcome with more worries about the Second Child instigating a Third Impact. But she spared a quick glance to the monitor that reported Shinji and Unit-01's status. "His sync ratio is erratic. He's in too much pain. Unit-01 will never be able to lift the other Eva at this rate. If we artificially induce a drop in sync ratio or a full disconnection, he could lose his grip on Unit-02."

"Dammit!" Misato now had to weigh the issue of when she should cut her losses. If Unit-01 were unable to haul Unit-02 back up, she might have to write off Unit-02.

And Asuka.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit." Misato set aside the tears that threatened to well up. There would be time for that later.

Rei felt a spray of fluid surrounding Unit-00. The wounds began to flow freely as the Angel twisted its head back and forth, like a dog tearing into meat. And then, the lone eye of Unit-00 was only able to pick up an amber-tinted haze from the world around her.

"Baka, let go!" Asuka cried over the link to Unit-01. "I can see Unit-01's flesh burning off. Your armor is flowing into the magma. Don't cause us both to die."

"Shut up, Asuka!" The harsh tone was not enough to hide the undercurrent of agony that the boy was feeling. Shinji was finding it hard to concentrate. But she was right. He couldn't hold up to this much longer. Already his sympathetic vision with Unit-01 had been reduced to one eye. Whether this was because liquefied armor had flowed the Eva's eye, or the eye had been burned from its socket, he couldn't say. Even as he observed this, his vision went dark in the other eye.

Some say inspiration derives from desperation. Shinji would later be able to attest to how true it was in his case.

"Asuka! Expand your AT Field to Unit-01's right."

"I can't through this equipment."

The pain in Shinji's voice caused a wavering in his comments over the audio. "Then discard it. We're dead anyway if you don't. Do it, NOW!"

In the superheated haze of the magma, the gray suit came off. The only part that remained was the right arm, which Unit-01 had in its grip. "Expanding AT Field!"

Unit-02 raised an arm to its left. Octagonal lines formed close to Unit-02, and pushed out slightly. At the same instant Unit-01 mirrored the action, but in the opposite direction. The slight distention that the AT Field made as it initially flowed from their respective sources created a hole in the magma. The fields went down to fifty meters, and managed to extend to both sides of the depression in the basin. The molten earth flowed off the two Evas. With a quick glance down, Asuka saw that at the bottom of where their AT Fields had generated, the lava was rising up to them again.

"Climb me."

Asuka bit back a retort, and did as Shinji asked. She maneuvered carefully, keeping Unit-02's arm extended and hopefully generating her force field while she used the other for clambering up. She grabbed onto the purple android's waist, and pulled her Eva up. Unit-02 made its way up the torso as she gripped an ankle and pulled her android towards the coolant lines. She felt her footing slipped, and Shinji screamed over the link. She grimaced when she saw that what she had been slipping on was a chunk of scorched flesh on Unit-01's stomach that she had dislodged, revealing the pink and purple innards of the golem. Unit-02 made it to the next tie on the five cables. She reached down, and, in her desperation to grab Unit-01, lost her concentration on her AT Field. The magma came pouring back in. She reached down, and gripped the leg of the Eva unit below her. With mighty heave, Unit-02 tossed the other android out of the crater. The magma sloshed in from both sides, and though a few drops sprayed up onto Unit-02, Shinji was clear of the substance.

**Scene Shift**

Naoko was back in her office, comfortable in her chair. It wouldn't last long, so she relished the sensation. Soon she would have to go out to the Matsushiro Research site, and begin the process of prepping for the Angelic specimen, as well as determining a secure route by which to transport the Lancea Longinus to the site. The location was close to the Seismic center, where the Angel had been encased in Bakelite, along with the Prototype Eva. Moving the specimen and Unit-00 was going to be a logistics nightmare as it was; She didn't see any need for trying to haul the gigantic creatures across the country side any further than she had to. And she absolutely had to use the Spear of Destiny. To avert the danger of the Angel breaking free and attacking, it needed to be reverted back to its chrysalis form. And to do that, they would have to use the lance.

That was not an action that needed to be carried out in the open, and in full view of the public eye.

She ran another calculation through the Magi. She hoped that this wasn't a mistake. This shouldn't trigger a Third Impact, but such arrogance from the Katsuragi team had resulted in the Second Impact fifteen years prior.

As she waited for the Magi's assessment, she looked at other data from the battle. There was plenty of bad news there to hold her over.

Rei had achieved a sync ratio of 83 percent. It was evident too, as the girl had begun manifesting sympathetic stigmata across her body during the battle. Rei had been transported to Nerv's medical facilities. Given that the wounds were mentally induced, all that really remained was to wait for them to heal. Shinji had insisted that he should return back to Tokyo-3 with his cousin. Upon finding out that she suffered no serious injury and would be unconscious for some time, and being exhausted himself, he was convinced to stay where he was and enjoy a soak in the hot springs before coming back.

There was another problem. It would be some time before Unit-01 was operational again. When it had been thrown from the lava pit, its armor had cooled and melded in places. That left the Android fused into a fetal position, and hard to repair. The Eva was a tangled jumble that would have to be welded apart. That would take time, and serious necrosis could be expected on the tissue during the interim. They would have to loot parts from the Germans again. The Chinese had not come far along in their development of an Eva, but she expected that Nerv would find them as difficult to budge as the Americans when they asked for spare Eva parts. On the good side, the damage was so extensive that the malformed experimental by-products from the initial creation attempts of the Eva could be used as replacements. The failed attempts would be good for a pair of arms at any rate. The half-formed Evas existed merely as a sort of morbid showcase now. They needed to be put to good use.

Naoko heard the tone that announced that the Magi's assessment was complete, and went over the report. She sighed as she left her chair, knowing that rest was now a prospect that could be placed in the far distant future.

**Scene Shift**

Shinji sit against the side of the hot springs, his eyes closed. His muscles could have been made of rubber, there was such an absence of tension.

"I didn't know bathing could be this nice." Shinji mumbled absently to himself.

"Shinji, can you hear me?"

"Ah, yes, Major Katsuragi."

"Be a dear and toss the body shampoo over to us."

"Ours ran out." Asuka added to Misato's comment, her voice uncharacteristically sweet.

"Okay." Shinji walked over to the dividing fence, and heaved back the bottle. "Here it comes." He launched the bottle over the partition.

There was a sound of flesh being slapped, and Asuka cried out, "OWW."

"Sorry."

"He hit me in my most private part."

"Oh, let me see."

"Misato, that's ticklish."

"Wow, Asuka. Your skin is so soft."

"Oh, don't touch me there."

"Ah, but it will make you feel better."

Shinji listened intently, and felt a slight trickle of blood on his upper lip. Her rubbed it, and his finger came away red.

He heard something overhead, and looked up. Misato and Asuka had climbed up the fence together, their tops fully exposed. Both were staring down at him impishly.

"He certainly is developed for a boy his age." Misato winked over at Asuka.

"I suppose." The redhead answered the woman beside her in a tone that was almost bored.

Shinji stood with his mouth in an open 'O' for a moment, before he realized what it was the females were saying. He looked down, and let out a yelp as he put both of his hands in the water to cover himself. "Thermal expansion. How embarrassing."

Asuka began to laugh at his comment. She giggled so hard that she lost her grip on her perch, and fell back with a splash on the other side. "Ow! I think I got a splinter."

Misato winked at the boy, and lowered herself so that the fence covered any view of her feminine assets. "You did well today, Shinji. You acted like a man, and a hero to boot." She favored the boy with a last wink, and descended back to the women's side.

Shinji stood for a moment, before going back to his previous spot. He couldn't find the state of relaxation he had known minutes before, but all the same, he kept a smile plastered to his face for the rest of the bath.

**Scene Shift **

Misato sat, soaking in the sun. She looked over to see Asuka staring back at her. More specifically, the girl gazed at the mark that was on her chest.

"A memento from Second Impact." Misato turned to her charge.

"What?"

"The scar."

Asuka nodded, and looked away, lost in thought. "You know about me, don't you? I mean, my past."

Misato nodded. "It's part of my job. The information in your dossier was fully disclosed to me."

Asuka nodded, and returned to her quiet contemplations.

"I'm not the best one for advice on this, Asuka. My father wasn't someone I was close to. He put his work over his family. Everyone thought he was brave and self-sacrificing, but I thought he was a coward. And then, when Second Impact occurred, he saved me, at the expense of his own life. He was a man I hated, but when it counted, he was there. It can be confusing to love and hate the same person."

Asuka, almost in a whisper, responded, "Yeah."

"You can't let it eat at you, Asuka. It's just something that happens. Do right by the people who are around you now, and try to forget the bad things. That's all I know to tell you."

The redhead nodded, and gazed out morosely at the sunset. Suddenly, she turned back to her guardian. "I could wash your back. If we carried on the proper conversation, I think we could give Shinji another nosebleed."

Misato smiled. "Sounds like fun."

**Scene Shift**

In his office, Kozo was brought out of his reports by the sound of air depressing from the hydraulics that controlled his door. His gaze took in the men he had been expecting. A pair of Section Two agents were flanking a man with a noticeable amount of beard stubble. The dark-haired man smiled crookedly. The smile showed two missing teeth. Further signs of the man's recent misfortune could be made out all along his countenance: a blackened eye that was turning from purple to yellow, scrapes along a cheek, and a split lip were easily evident.

"Mr. Ryoji." Kozo turned his gaze to the security detail. "You may leave us."

The men nodded in unison, and left the room. As soon as the door had closed again, Kaji piped up. "So good to see you again, Commander Fuyutsuki."

"Yes, I imagine it is. You've caused quite a bit of trouble, Kaji."

Kaji indicated his face with a slight gesture. "I wished I could feel bad, but I assure you I've been paying for my errors."

"Did they send you with any messages?"

"Yes. They want to know if or when they can expect the Fourth Child."

Kozo slid a report across the desk. "The Marduk Report has just located another pilot. Details will be released shortly."

He looked at the photograph taped to the file. It was a sandy-haired child, in glasses, with a cheerful grin. Kaji felt bad for the boy.

He wondered how happy the boy would be, when he became involved in high-level affairs, and shouldered the responsibilities of saving the world. His heart went out to this Kensuke Aida, whoever he was.


	16. Scenario no Yui Chapter 16

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion

Cyber Undead once again deserves credit for proofreading this story. He may not catch 'everything' but he does catch a lot more than I did.

**Chapter 16**

Yui and Naoko sat across from one another in the former's office. The room was clean and neat, if not a little cluttered. It was obvious that she had a thing for pictures, as a lot of wall space and desk space were devoted to various photographs. Prominent among the photographs were Shinji and Rei, though a few featured Yui with various friends and coworkers. A line of diplomas beside the window accredited the woman's path to higher education.

Naoko placed a manila folder on the desk. "Is this really the best choice we could make?"

Yui frowned slightly. What Naoko was actually asking was 'Are you this stupid?'

"The Americans will get the next Eva pilot. Unit-03 and 04 are ready to begin activation tests within the month. They will ask for a Child, and we will be hard pressed to deny that request."

"We have three Evangelion Units and three pilots. If one of our pilots were put out of active duty for any reason, it is the same as immobilizing an Eva unit. At any time Asuka, Shinji, or Rei could suffer from battle stress or mental instability because of the pressure associated with fighting the Angels, and be sidelined. Not to mention that they are still in the grips of adolescence. How long will it be before they start rebelling against authority figures? It's a natural, not to mention well-documented, fact of maturation that they enter such a stage in their social development. And this doesn't take into account the fact that any one of them could suffer from an incident unrelated to their work here. One of them could easily break an arm or become sick."

"I know, Naoko. I'm sure Misato will come to Fuyutsuki or me with the same complaints before long. As it stands now, we only have one active Eva. Unit-01 is approaching the Henflick limit by current estimates, and even though it has been determined that it is still salvageable, it will be some time before it becomes ready for active service. Unit-00 is stuck to the last Angel, and until we have safely dislodged it, we can't do anything with that one either. So, by the Committee's estimation, we have one Eva and three pilots. The U.S. will most likely have another active unit before we do. And since they can configure their core data and fine tune it to the new pilot while we can do nothing to Unit-00 or 01's core, it will seem sensible to let the Americans go ahead."

"We are allowing them into the race. That shouldn't be acceptable. They have the resources to fund an Eva program, and this will cause acceleration in the other countries to develop their own projects. The end result will be that Project E is decentralized."

"It can't be helped. To act differently would cast suspicion on us. Besides, Kensuke Aida is the best potential pilot we could send to them. According to his tests, he is ill suited for piloting, though he is capable of establishing synchronization with an Eva unit. He has physical limitations, most noticeable his poor eyesight. LCL will not react well to contact lenses, and his vision within a liquid through a pair of glasses will cause obscured visibility. Having to adjust between his normal vision, his augmented vision with eyewear, and whatever occipital sensory data he receives from the Eva should serve as a noticeable deterrent to his performance as a pilot. And this doesn't even factor in the problems that will be created by a language barrier. The Fourth Child has limited English-speaking skills. It's bound to cause confusion, and a noticeable delay in reaction time."

Naoko considered this. "Wouldn't it seem to the Americans then that we are trying to sabotage them?"

"Perhaps. But have you talked to the child yet? His enthusiasm is boundless, and he possesses a wide pool of knowledge to draw upon in military matters. Incidentally, don't leave the boy alone with a computer terminal. He has a budding talent for hacking. Young Aida has been going on excursions for a while now to train himself for military service. His attitude and personality in general may be enough to convince anyone that we are sending a competent candidate for use with one of the American units."

"I still can't help but feel that this is opening Pandora's box."

"We opened Pandora's box a long time ago, Naoko. This action is merely to make us appear docile. If we did not comply, the Committee would be more likely to intervene. We have to give up a small advantage in order to secure a greater one."

Naoko smirked. "That sounds like something Kozo might say. You two have been scheming together for too long."

There was a momentary silence between the two women. That comment had come as close to an accusation as Naoko had bothered to voice. Yui immediately wondered if the woman had gotten data that made it clear that Naoko was not privy to Kozo and Yui's ultimate plans. Being the controller of the Magi, it was hard to keep information from the woman. It was dangerous to give the woman intelligence, but it was also dangerous to keep Naoko out of the loop. Yui made a note to discuss with Kozo the possibility of letting the doctor have another snippet of the truth to placate her worries.

Yui decided that the conversational pause was stretching out a little too long. "We were going to lose our pilot monopoly soon when the dummy plugs came online. It was only a matter of time. We spotted the Americans an extra month or two that we didn't think they would have. We can afford that."

Naoko rose, and smoothed out her skirt. She donned her lab coat again as she continued speaking. "I hope so. Well, I have an Angel to pack up, and two Eva units to fix. And that's after I run tests on all the pilots. Thank you for this talk, Sub-Commander Ikari."

Yui smiled pleasantly, if not sincerely. "It was no problem, Doctor Akagi. I know this probably wasn't what you were eager to hear, but I hope you understand why these choices had to be made in this way."

Naoko nodded. "Of course. Enjoy the rest of your morning."

**Scene Shift**

Rei rolled her eyes as she approached the entrance to Nerv HQ. Shinji gave her a long-suffering smile, as the two of them took in the ceaseless exuberance of the boy behind them.

"Oh wow, a Centron F-38 card swipe security system. Nerv doesn't use anything but the best. It would be difficult to get into this place if you weren't on the staff."

Shinji looked back to Kensuke. The boy was beaming. The three had walked to Headquarters after school, though Kensuke had insisted he get to stop by the bathroom first. The boy had straightened his school uniform and washed himself up. His hair had been combed with Pythagorean precision, with nary a stray lock to be found. Shinji didn't think Kensuke had ever dressed up this well on any other occasion he could recall.

Rei swiped a card to go in, and Shinji turned to Kensuke. "Did you get a…" Shinji stopped when he saw the boy's camcorder was on and filming him. "Put that away."

Kensuke shook his head. "I want to record my initiation into the ranks of Nerv. This is a day I'll cherish for the rest of my existence. I can't believe I'm actually going to be a pilot!"

Rei turned back, and snatched the camera into her palm.

"Hey."

"Did it occur to you that Nerv is a top secret military installation? Do you think such a place would want you to film its interior?"

Kensuke paused, which in itself was a blessing. He had been a non-stop bubble of energy for the entire walk from school to Nerv. "I guess not. I'll keep it off, just give it back to me."

Shinji laughed mockingly at that. "Sure, we trust you."

Rei tucked the video camera into the bag at her side. "I'm not letting you touch this thing until you've had a bottle of Ritalin."

"As I was saying, did you get a security card yet?"

Kensuke looked back to Shinji. "Umm, no, I didn't. I've only been here once, and that was when the beautiful Major Misato Katsuragi had me sign some forms. Then that old Doctor woman ran a physical on me."

Shinji nodded, and swiped his card. "Come along."

A sentry nodded to Shinji and Rei as they stepped up to the next checkpoint. He asked Kensuke for his I.D. and got on the phone. He turned back to the children. "Doctor Akagi asks that Mr. Ikari bring the Fourth Children with him to the changing rooms. A Plug Suit has been provided for him there. Please change and meet with her in Lab C."

Shinji nodded, and he and Rei pulled Kensuke along, who was busy studying the guard's rifle. The boy adjusted his glasses and looked in shock at Rei. "What are you doing?"

Rei was behind the two boys now, and had been going through memory files on the camcorder. "Hey Shinji, I think I figured out who has been selling those pictures of Asuka to the school body." Rei narrowed her eyes as she saw one. "Here's a nice one of her in the girl's changing room with half of our female class. I will not kill you now Aida, but only because I can't see myself in this picture."

Shinji tried to peek at the digital screen Rei was looking at, but couldn't get an angle. Giving up, he wheeled on Kensuke, who was waving his hands in front of himself and shaking his head. "Those are Touji's doing. I didn't take any of those pictures."

"And yet, they are on your video camera. You didn't erase them, even if you are telling the truth."

Kensuke looked back pleadingly. "Would you erase them?"

Shinji didn't have a very good answer to that. Luckily, his cousin did. The two boys had paused, and she walked up to them and then past. As she passed Kensuke, she punched him in the side. "Yes, he would."

"Oww!"

"We mustn't damage him before the tests, Rei. Miss Naoko will get angry with us."

Rei shrugged.

The pilots made their way to the changing room. Rei began to step behind the curtain partition between the boy's and girl's side, and paused. "Shinji, we know he's a Peeping Tom. Keep a close eye on him."

Shinji nodded. When Rei had gone around the curtain, Shinji looked back to Kensuke. "I hope you aren't going to be a nuisance. She'll kill you if you do it."

Kensuke nodded solemnly. "I know. She's a scary girl. So, which locker is mine?"

Shinji wasn't sure himself. "I think it might be this one here." One locker was slightly ajar. When they opened it, they found a black and purple plug suit hanging in it. "Go ahead and put it on." Shinji turned around to get dressed in his own outfit.

A moment later, Shinji turned around to find Kensuke holding up his arms. He was examining the loose material of the garment. "How did you make yours do that?"

"Do what?"

"Fit."

Shinji indicated the button at his wrist. Kensuke pressed the corresponding button on his own wrist, and the vacuum activated to make a skintight fit. Through his glasses, Kensuke's eyes bulged. Then he smiled. "That felt neat."

"Is he done getting off on his plug suit?" Rei called.

"There's a stain, so I think he's finished."

Rei came walking in from her side of the room smiling. "You know, it wouldn't surprise me."

Kensuke looked resentful. "I'm still here."

"We know."

"You two take too much for granted. Don't you realize how truly great this is? Can you imagine the level of technology that went into designing this suit? This is the uniform of the pilots who go out and save the human race from alien invaders. You should be more proud of what you do. It is a sacred…"

"He rants like Aunt Yui." Rei opened the door to the outside hallway.

Shinji was in agreement. "If you are going to expose us to an appreciation speech, at least do it while you're walking." The Ikaris went out the door, and Kensuke hurried to catch up.

**Scene Shift**

Kaji Ryoji was sitting in the stall of a public restroom. Which might have been unremarkable, save for the fact that he still had his pants on, and was merely waiting for someone to come. The door opened to the restaurant outside, and he heard someone turn on the sink. Then he listened to the newcomer go into the stall beside him.

From the other side of the flimsy wall came a gruff voice. "This change in climate is making me crazy."

"It is said that those the gods would destroy, they first make mad."

"Mr. Ryoji, I trust you are not at this eatery alone?"

"My security contingent is in the dining area. Undoubtedly one will come to check on me soon. We need to be quick."

A hand with an envelope appeared under the wooden stall. Kaji reached down and retrieved it, careful not to touch the floor.

"Inside you will find instructions. Your freedom comes with a price. The ageless man wants you to know you are expected to make good on your part of the deal which resulted in your release from captivity."

"I feel like I am being double-charged for that favor. The Americans and Nerv have me running errands for them as well."

"That is one of the downsides to being an agent for every possible party. Live with it."

"Oh, those were my plans for the immediate future."

The deep-voiced man paused. After a moment, he continued. "Our common patron also wanted you to know that if you did this, you would find another piece of the puzzle."

"Good old Keel." The man on the other side of the wall tried to shush Kaji with a noise. Kaji continued, heedless of the sound. "He always knows which carrot to dangle. I have just one question."

"Oh? So long as it is discrete."

"Why in the world would you make our meeting here?"

"It is hard to escape the eyes of Nerv, especially in this town. This is one of the few places I think might be away from their diligent observation."

"There's wisdom to that. However, if we have another get-together, I would like to choose the locale."

The man laughed. "We'll see."

Kaji got out, and washed his hands. It became obvious that the man was going to wait for Kaji to leave before abandoning his stall.

Kaji sighed. He hated not knowing a name. But not even letting him catch a glimpse of the person he had spoken with was overly miserly. But he understood.

Keel Lorenz was being careful.

**Scene Shift**

Asuka could feel the LCL surrounding her. If she had opened her eyes, she would have seen her auburn locks drifting at the side of her head.

She kept her eyes close, and concentrated on the Eva. It was a robot that she needed to tame. Like a horse, she had already broken it in, and was becoming used to its finer nuances. Mastery was not enough, though. It needed to behave as she willed it to. She was the best, and she had to become better. When the next Angel came, there would only be her Unit-02 to stop it. She had to be perfect.

And she would be. This was her puppet, her doll, and she would make it dance.

In her mind, she saw a small replica of Unit-02 on a set of strings she held. She wiggled her fingers, and the Eva would react perfectly. It jumped with the grace of a ballerina, and made complicated moves with its arms. One of the strings tangled around the Eva's neck, and it seemed to draw up on that string. It hung, like a corpse on the gallows.

Or like a washed-out mother.

"Asuka, what are you thinking about in there?" Naoko's voice came in over the audio feed to the plug.

"Nothing."

"Well, concentrate on the Eva. Your sync ratio was looking good, but then something made it deviate."

Asuka nodded, and tried to slip into a state of relaxation again. She drove thoughts of her past from her mind. She was self-sufficient, intelligent, beautiful, and charming. She had no need of those who would abandon her. She didn't need anyone.

She would make this doll dance.

**Scene Shift**

Naoko sipped her coffee, and looked back to a digital readout. "Looks like she's returned back to normal."

Misato looked up through the glass and into the Eva cage at the red golem. "Good. She's my only pilot now. It's a lot to ask of her, but she's got to carry the whole load for a while."

Naoko picked up a phone, and hit several buttons. After a ring a female's voice answered. "Lab C."

"Maya, are the other pilots ready yet?"

"They reported to the Lab a few moments ago. I am prepping for their insertion into the simulation plugs now, ma'am."

"Thanks. I'll be down shortly. Wait until I arrive before we begin injecting LCL and compiling data."

"Yes, Dr. Akagi."

Naoko hung up the phone, and turned back to Misato. "We have the readings we need here. I need to get the other children started so that I can return to the Matsushiro Research Facility."

Misato looked sympathetically at the doctor. "You're going to run yourself ragged if you aren't careful."

Naoko ignored the comment, and activated her microphone. "That's good for now, Asuka. Eject the plug and go get cleaned up."

**Scene Shift**

Ritsuko Akagi stood in a darkened room. She assumed the wait she was going through was some sort of head game on the part of her contact. Old men were so obstinate with their need for a pecking order. She straightened her lab coat, and put her hands back in her pockets. There was more than a slight chill in the air. It was a concession made to the sophisticated electronics that would be needed to project the hologram communication. The equipment had a tendency to heat up.

There was a warble as the projector suddenly came on. In front of her, a blackened monolith appeared. On it was written Seele-01 (Sound Only).

"Dr. Akagi. I am glad to see I am not too late."

Ritsuko checked her watch. By her timepiece, this man was closing in on forty-five minutes after the time he had agreed to contact her.

"To the point: our control over the organization known as Nerv is, at best, tenuous. Commander Fuyutsuki is trying to cover up this fact, but we have seen tendencies that he is pursuing his own agenda. Recently, he captured a live Angel against the Committee's warnings. Such a thing can upset the unfolding of age-old mandates. We do not wish to see this happen."

Ritsuko cleared her throat, hoping to cover her nervousness. "What is it you would like me to do?"

"I am satisfied that you are working under your own agenda, as opposed to being a spy for Nerv. This was a concern among several members for some time as to where your true loyalties lay"

Ritsuko thought about the last few weeks with disdain. She had been subjected to questioning while under the influence of truth serum, put through psychological evaluations, and most likely had an extensive background check and surveillance run on her. She had suspected that she was about to be allowed into the Inner Circle.

She was glad to see she had been right.

"I hope they are past on any doubt concerning me."

"How soon can you have your project operational?"

"For combat?"

The monolith hovered, with no sound coming from it. She took that as an affirmative.

"We can engage in field maneuvers with no difficulty. But fighting an Angel is still beyond our capabilities. There was one thing that Nerv believed in, and it still holds true: without the capacity to generate an A.T. Field, it is almost impossible to bring down an Angel."

There was a pause. Ritsuko wondered if she was going to get an answer, just an instant before she received it. "I will see to it that the components you require are put into your possession. In return, I need your project to move ahead with the utmost haste. We do not have much time."

"I promise that, if you provide me with the means, I will find a way."

"If this is so, you may very well be overseeing Nerv within a few months. Do not fail us, Dr. Akagi."

The monolith vanished. Ritsuko looked around the room, frowning at the equipment. All of this gear was to project a black monolith with white writing?

She turned and walked out. She needed to get ready. If Keel was promising parts, then they were as good as delivered.

**Scene Shift**

As Naoko entered the room, Kensuke snapped to attention and saluted. Rei rolled her eyes again, and Shinji stifled a laugh. Heedless of the two, the sandy-haired boy practically shouted. "Pilot Kensuke Aida ready for duty, sir… er, ma'am."

Naoko favored the boy with a slight grin. "At ease." Kensuke crossed his hands behind his back and assumed a stance with his feet slightly apart, but otherwise showed no evidence that he was at ease.

"Since none of you have your Eva units, we have instead downloaded your data into remote plugs. Shinji and Rei, your next such test will probably occur in the Pribno Box. Kensuke's data will be forwarded to the Americans to help in the startup process."

Shinji looked over at Kensuke. "You're going to the U.S.?"

Kensuke didn't deviate his gaze from straight ahead as he answered. "I am scheduled to leave within the week."

Rei let out a relieved sigh, and then returned to attention when she noticed all of the room was looking at her.

"Okay children, follow the hallway to the doors at the end. Shinji will report to RP01, Rei to RP02, and Kensuke to RP04. This is not your first time being in the plug, is it, Pilot Aida?"

Kensuke looked over at Rei guiltily. "No, ma'am."

"So the LCL shouldn't be the surprise for you that it was for our other pilots. Still, we'll talk you through the process."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Report to your plugs for the tests."

"Yes, ma'am." The children managed to sound the affirmation of Naoko's orders in unison. They made their way down the hall. Before the door had closed, the people in the lab could hear Shinji mutter "Brownnoser."

**Scene Shift**

Naoko and Maya watched the displays together. Maya looked to her mentor questioningly.

"These readings on the Fourth Child are lackluster, ma'am. He is only attaining about half the start up synchronization rate of Rei, who was our previous lowest scorer in this area."

Naoko nodded. Score one for Yui Ikari. "13 percent is still acceptable, even if it isn't optimal or promising. I'm going to clear him for transfer."

Maya nodded, and looked to a data screen on the side of Kensuke's readings that indicated personal information. "I assume his father is going to relocate as well."

Naoko nodded. "It'll help Kensuke with the transition. It wouldn't be right to drop the boy off in a country where he barely spoke the language without one friendly face."

Maya pointed to Rei's readings. "She's really improved."

Naoko frowned at that. "Reconfigure the signal so that this parameter is narrower." Naoko pointed to a blue bar on the computer monitor.

Maya looked to the doctor puzzled, but carried out her orders. On the screen that showed Rei's face, the girl seemed to strain harder. On the graph, her sync ratio dropped 22 points, from 61 to 39 percent.

Naoko patted Maya's shoulder. "That's good."

"Are we attempting to sabotage Rei's piloting ability, ma'am?"

Naoko scrambled in her thoughts for a moment. She would rather Maya didn't know what the real reason was, but the tech needed a valid explanation of what she had just seen. Then she had an idea. "In the last battle, the injuries Unit-00 received manifested on Rei. I believe that her body is overly sympathetic to the stimuli provided by the Eva. If we don't keep her synchronization rate down, a confrontation with an Angel might kill her."

Maya nodded, and Naoko was relieved that the woman accepted the explanation at face value.

It was hard to keep a secret and mislead those you trusted, but Naoko knew it was for the best.

**Scene Shift**

The three children were entering the change room. Kensuke, away from his superiors, had regained his initial excitement.

"Do you know what that LCL smells like to me?" The freckled boy was saying.

"Blood." Rei ventured a guess in a flat monotone.

Shinji paused, as if sudden realization had seized him. "Hey, it does."

A fourth voice chimed in from behind one of the boys' lockers. "I don't know. I think we should have the peeper make a comparison."

Kensuke had to scramble quickly to catch the camcorder that was launched at his chest. He juggled it a few times, and followed it down. He was able to get it under control before it hit the floor.

Asuka stared down on him with a look that promised murder.

"Oh shit." Shinji took a step away, fearing the scene that would unfold now that the Third Child had discovered the pictures that Kensuke had been taking.

"You. You are the one who has been selling glossies of me around school." Asuka raised her fist again, the action promising punishment.

"It's not what it looks like." Kensuke paused as the German held up a wallet. She opened it and pulled out several bills.

"4,000 yen is all you have. Surely I made more cash than that."

"Well, I spent about half of it on a new memory card, and got an upgrade… hey, what are you doing?"

"That was an admission of guilt. What you have been doing is blatant exploitation, and without any consent from the subject you have photographed. And it wasn't just me: how do you think the ladies in our class will feel once they find out you were photographing the girls' locker room." Asuka closed the empty wallet, and threw it on the floor.

"Not all of it. I have to eat."

Asuka looked at the boy levelly. She pulled a 500-yen bill out of the pile, and threw it on the ground in front of him. "I'm keeping the rest as a modeling fee, as well as the chip with these pictures on it. If I see that camcorder out around me again, or find out that more pictures have been sold, I will smite you down, Fourth Child. And I'll break that camcorder into a thousand pieces."

Kensuke looked at Asuka accusingly. "That memory card is worth a lot of money. I'll erase it, just return it."

"If you were trustworthy, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"She's got you there." Shinji threw in.

"I need that back." Kensuke lunged for the memory chip Asuka had in her hand. He grabbed it, just before the German pushed him away.

Asuka grimaced, and kicked Kensuke in the groin. He collapsed on the floor in pain. She walked up to him, and pulled the chip from his hand. "You really should have just left well enough alone, Aida. Think about that the next time you want to be a lecher with a camera. I might let you have your attachment back, after a magnet has been run over it several times." Asuka made her way to the door, before turning back around to face Shinji. "Call me tonight."

"Umm… yeah. I will."

Rei watched the redheaded girl disappear from the room. She turned back to Shinji. "You know, I almost liked her for a minute there."

Shinji kneeled down, and tried to help Kensuke up. "That had to hurt."

Kensuke was still clutching between his legs. "I think I'm going to be sick." He looked up at the door where Asuka had just left. "She is a foreign devil with no soul."

Shinji smiled, his own thoughts considerably brighter as he contemplated Asuka. "She isn't someone you want to make mad. Here, let me help you sit up."

Kensuke sat up slowly. He took his time letting the pain lessen. Finally, he looked at Shinji. "Did I do okay today?"

Shinji looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"My first day, did I do okay? With the plug test, and all of that."

Shinji clapped the boy on the back, which started a pair of coughs from Kensuke. "You did fine. Everyone was real impressed, I could tell. And Asuka didn't kick me in my package until almost two weeks after I met her. You're ahead of schedule."

Kensuke looked at Shinji. "You know what? You're okay, Ikari."

"If you're done with the male bonding, hurry up and change so I can leave." Shinji could make out Rei's silhouette behind the curtain, and saw that she was in her school uniform again. "We really need to get the girls a separate door to the hall. This is kind of ridiculous."

With a final look to one another, Shinji and Kensuke went to their separate lockers and began changing.


	17. Scenario no Yui Chapter 17

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion

Cyber Undead proofread this story. Any lack of spelling and grammatical errors is due in large part to his efforts.

My appreciation is also extended to Big D, who looked over some of the finer points of the plot.

My heartfelt thanks go out to both of you.

**Chapter 17**

Shinji waved a final farewell at the train that was pulling away, and looked back to the people with him. Touji was standing beside the class rep and Asuka. Rei was over to the side, her hands clasped in front of her. He pitied the look on Touji's face.

"Kensuke will be fine. I know he hated leaving behind his friends, but I don't know anyone who could be as excited as he is." Shinji turned from Touji to Asuka. "Thanks for giving him back his memory stick."

"I did it because he can't do any more damage here."

"It meant a lot to him, though."

Touji turned as if to leave, and the class rep walked up beside him. Shinji noticed Asuka had come over to him as well.

"Shinji, walk me home." Asuka whispered with her hand placed to the side of her mouth to keep the words from traveling in the direction of Hiroki and Suzahara.

Shinji turned and cast a glance towards Rei. She came over to the duo. "What is it?"

"I umm… well… I was going to walk Asuka back to her apartment."

Rei looked at Asuka with no enthusiasm. She turned back to Shinji. "That's fine. I had something I wanted to do."

While Shinji and Rei were talking, Hikari came trotting back to Asuka and the two had their own quiet conversation. Shinji wasn't sure of what exact words of their dialogue consisted of, but he could figure out what the sparkling look in Hikari's eyes meant. He spoke to Rei again. "Are you sure? I don't mind you coming along."

"Oh, I'm sure. I don't want to be around while you get all dopey over that girl, and I really have other things I need to do."

Shinji nodded, and gave Rei a hug. "Be safe, cousin. If you have any problems…"

"I'll call you on the cell phone."

Asuka was waiting on the two of them now, her arms crossed and her foot tapping anxiously. Rei favored the German with a last dark look over Shinji's shoulder, before backing away. "Wish me luck." Rei smiled a little as she made the request.

Shinji blinked. "Good luck." The statement came dangerously close to sounding like a question, but it was good enough for Rei, who turned and almost skipped off.

Shinji walked up to Asuka, who held her book bag out almost absently. "Let me get that for you, Asuka."

Asuka smiled benignly. "Of course, if you want to." He took the satchel from her hand, his finger brushing up against hers for just the briefest instant. For Shinji, it was electrical. Asuka turned and began walking, and Shinji matched her pace easily.

"So… Hikari and Touji?"

Asuka looked over to the blue-eyed boy with an annoyed look on her face. "Don't remind me. I don't know what's wrong with her. It's like she fell for him while he was using the pity card before he played it."

"What?"

Asuka favored the First Child with a sly look. "Surely you boys talk about this."

Shinji shrugged. "If we do, I've missed some of the meetings."

"Some girls have a natural nurturing instinct, I guess from where they're pining to have children and sit around the house and cook for their husbands." Asuka's tone let her express what she thought about that sort of mindset. "And any pain or suffering of any sort in others is liable to set off a Florence Nightingale reaction that can be exploited."

"Oww! My ankle!" Shinji placed the school bags on the ground and started rubbing his foot.

Asuka smirked. "You're fast on the uptake, Ikari. Of course, you're assuming I'm one of those boring housewife types. I'm not, so you can drop the act. I think that guys that try to milk sympathy are pathetic."

Shinji looked like he was about to say something, but instead closed his mouth abruptly. The two began walking on, Shinji with a slight limp and Asuka laughing at his efforts in her mind.

"So, how are you making out with the Major as a roommate?"

"She's a slob, and she has disgusting table manners. Plus, dinner is absolutely horrible."

Shinji laughed. "Sounds about how I remember it."

Asuka looked sourly at his laugh, but went on. "You should have seen how she tried to decide chores. She would play paper, rock, scissors, and cheat! I caught her doing it close to when we started though, so I was able to keep it pretty even. I placed a divider between our hands, and I would pick it up quick after we had made our choice. It kept her from changing her decision, or letting her hand fall slower to see what I had first."

"That was pretty smart."

Asuka looked to her apartment building, which they were approaching at a noticeable pace. "Of course."

Another silence threatened to invade, before Shinji spoke up. "Are you two the only people living in that building?"

Asuka laughed. "Yeah, how weird is that? Misato said it was because Section Two wanted to keep better security on us, and it was close to Nerv HQ. I think it's bizarre. I don't even know why we have to clean our apartment. It seems like once we were done with one, we could move to the next one."

Asuka noticed that as Shinji relaxed into their conversation, his limp became more prevalent. "You weren't kidding back there."

"What's that?"

"Your ankle really was hurt."

"It's not bad."

Asuka went to take her bag back from Shinji, but the boy kept a firm grip on it. "We've made it this far. An elevator ride with this little load isn't going to be a problem."

Asuka nodded, and the two rode up to their apartment in silence. When they made it to the door, Asuka opened it and pulled Shinji in. "What the…"

"We're going to look at that injury and make sure it's alright, Mister Ikari. You can take a seat in the living room." Asuka guided Shinji to the sofa, and gave him a slight shove into it. His head flopped onto the back. Clothes were scattered about the apartment, and Asuka started picking them up with disgust. "She's such a slob."

A voice called out from the bathroom, "She can hear you very plainly."

Shinji noticed Asuka pick up a bra and pair of panties in the hallway, in addition to the skirt and uniform she had already retrieved. Did Misato come stripping through the apartment as soon as she entered it? That made for a pleasant visual.

"Now let's see." Asuka raised Shinji's foot up and examined the ankle. She touched it, and once because of the pressure she applied, he flinched, but otherwise he took her ministrations well enough. Asuka finally looked back up at him. "I guess you are okay. You just twisted it."

There was a laugh from the hall. Misato stood there, her hair wrapped in one bath towel and her body wrapped with another. "Way to go, stud. You've got her waiting on you hand and foot."

Asuka let Shinji's foot fall with little regard, and stood up pointing at Misato. "We've got company. Go put some clothes on, right now."

"Oh, I don't think he minds, do you, Shinji?"

"Umm…"

"Get out!" Asuka said forcefully at the woman, who grinned impishly.

"Fine, I'll go change. You two behave."

Asuka watched Misato go, and turned back to Shinji. "She can be so annoying."

Shinji nodded. "It looks like she's giving you a hard time."

Asuka nodded. "If only she could do something useful, like cleaning or cooking or anything. It's no wonder she's still single. When you were around, you could make a decent meal at least."

Shinji was silent for a moment. Asuka looked to see what was wrong, and the boy looked like he was psyching himself up.

"If you like, you could come over to our house sometime and have dinner with us. I'm sure mom won't mind."

Asuka had to give the First Child credit. He managed to sound casual with the request. But she could see the telltale signs of nervousness: sweat, dilated pupils, purposely slowed breathing, and tension. "I suppose I could. When did you have in mind?"

She could almost hear him exhale. "How about we have it at the end of the week? Would Saturday be good?"

Asuka nodded, and pulled the boy's sock back on. "Do you need any ice for that?"

"No, I think it's fine now, thanks. I know that checking this stuff out isn't really something which interests you."

Asuka walked Shinji to the door. As he went to leave, she stopped him and leaned in. She kissed him on the cheek. After she pulled away, he stood there, a little stunned. She closed the door, and turned around with an air of contentment. "That should leave him wrapped around my finger."

"I didn't see him fawning over your feet." Misato called from the hall. "So, you're going to have dinner with the Ikaris."

"It's not your concern, Misato. And eavesdropping is wrong."

Misato smiled as she entered the living room. "But it's very fun. And it's a big step, a boy bringing you home to meet his mother. Especially when his mother is the Sub-Commander of Nerv."

Asuka shrugged. "I don't have to impress her anyway. I'm just going for the food."

"So, are you and Shinji an item?"

Asuka frowned. "We haven't ever gone out on a date."

"So go out sometime."

"I am a woman. I do not ask boys to date me. I will not stoop so low as to ever do such a thing. If he wants to go out, he'll have to ask me."

**Scene Shift**

Shinji entered into the house, whistling a happy tune. He was glad things had gone as well as they did. He considered himself a fairly articulate guy, but when he was around Asuka, or Misato for that manner, he was reduced to stuttering, and straining to follow the flow of conversation. When he spoke with Rei or his mom, he could say witty stuff as well as the next person. He had to get over being nervous.

He stopped by Rei's room as he heard a noise coming from within. He strained, struggling to identify the sound. It sounded like…crying.

"Rei?" Shinji called out, knocking lightly on the door. She didn't answer, so he cracked open the entry to her room. He saw her azure hair by the dimming illumination of the evening light streaming in through the window, but not much else of her. The overhead light was off. She was hugging a stuffed animal, and had several of her Beanie Babies scattered on the floor around her. Her covers were pulled up over most of her body.

"Go away, Shinji."

Shinji came over and sat down beside her, lifting her chin up. He pulled a few tissues from a nearby box, and gave them to her.

"The security guy?" Shinji looked to a nearby notebook, where Rei had written what her last name would be if they married, or what his name would be if he changed it like Shinji's dad had done. Tukagi Ikari and Rei Ikita. "Ikita?"

Rei blew her nose, and looked at her cousin levelly. "Don't. I don't want an 'I told you so' speech right now, and if you give me one, I'll never forgive you."

Shinji smiled, and leaned back against the wall, mimicking Rei's posture, and turned to her. "I wouldn't do that. Not right now, anyway." Rei hit him in the shoulder, but there was little force behind it. "Alright, no jokes. I'm sorry it didn't go the way you wanted, Rei."

Rei held out her hand, examining it in the dim glow of dusk. "It's because I'm a freak."

"Is that what he said?"

"No, but it's the truth. I'm as pale as liquid paper, and my hair looks like I'm trying to be a punk star."

Shinji waved a dismissive hand. "You've got a condition. It doesn't look bad."

"You're not an unbiased observer, Shinji. I look like some sort of misshapen oni-girl."

"Kensuke thought you were cute."

Rei stared at her cousin a moment, a slim suggestion of a smile starting on her face. "Are you trying to make me feel better? I mean, come on, Aida thinking I'm pretty is supposed to help?"

Shinji shook his head, hoping to throw in a joke and get her spirits up now. "No, but at least you don't look like him."

Rei put her head back down. "It would probably be better if I did. Just go away for now, Shinji. I want to mope for a while."

Shinji got up and left the room. Rei sighed and put her head down. She lifted it back up a few moments later as the light switch was cut on. She saw Shinji with a few books and two bowls of ice cream.

"You don't think I'm ugly enough without being fat as well?"

"Give it a rest, Rei. You know you're not ugly." Seeing her about to interrupt, he talked a little louder. "I'll bet he said it was because you were too young, didn't he?"

Rei lowered her head. Shinji went on. "And it doesn't seem possible to you that the explanation he gave might be the actual reason."

Rei grabbed a bowl of ice cream, and put some in her mouth. "I'm going to be like one of those humongous people in the world records book. There will be a picture of me going down the street on a moped on the 2020 back cover. I'll look like a beach ball on a crayon." Rei scooped another bite of ice cream, and swallowed it quickly. "I'm going to be the sumo girl."

"And I can take pride in the fact that I started you down that path." Shinji opened a book, and started his homework. "Let me know when you're done wallowing in self-pity; I'm going to go ahead with my studies." He felt something soft hit his head, and reached back to retrieve one of Rei's Beanie Babies from where it had impacted on his skull. "The plastic eyes on these things hurt you know."

"Good."

**Scene Shift **

Aoba strummed happily on his guitar, adding a nice acoustic accompaniment to the lead singer, Yasashiku. The band was doing a decent rendition of one of the many nineties pop songs in their repertoire, and the crowd seemed agreeable enough to a little interpretation. It was needed to make some of the songs work for two instruments. He looked to Haru for a brief instance, who was focused on his drums. As the set ended, Yasashiku announced that the band would be taking a brief break before starting another set.

Aoba walked over to his friends, Makoto Hyuga and Maya Ibuki, who were sitting at a table in the middle of the café. Makoto applauded openly, and Maya did a little golf clap beside him. Makoto sported a pair of Khaki pants and a striped shirt, while Maya was in blue jeans and a yellow tee shirt. Aoba looked to the side, where the other two band members had followed him down.

"Yasashiku and Haru, meet Makoto and Maya." Aoba made sure to indicate each person with his hand as he spoke their names. Makoto had already seen the two men before, but still offered a handshake to each. Yasashiku was a man of medium height, with blonde highlights in short cropped hair. He sported a thick pair of glasses that looked like they could stop bullets. Haru looked pretty plain, with neatly trimmed black hair, in a pair of blue jeans and black shirt.

Maya studied the latter intently. "I've seen you around the Cage, I think."

Haru nodded. "I'm in there on occasion. I'm more of a go-for than anything else."

Yasashiku looked up, and then back to the group. "Not to be rude, but lady love just came through the door. It was a pleasure to meet you, Maya, and you as well, Makoto." The singer left and made his way to a pretty brunette who had just entered.

Aoba smirked at his friend's departure. "He's got it bad."

Haru agreed with him. "We should really start looking for a new lead singer. That one will be married inside of a year."

All four were sitting around the table now. Maya leaned in to the conversation to be better heard. "So, how did you all meet?"

"Haru and I went to University together. As you know, Nerv has a tendency to draft from certain institutes. We just lucked up and made the same branch."

"And we met Yasashiku here. He's with Public Relations."

Makoto raised a glass. "To NeoTokyo-3, the city that Nerv built."

They lifted their various drinks, and let their containers clink against each other.

Aoba looked over to Maya. "So, what did you think?"

Maya began to speak, but Haru interrupted her. "And be brutally honest. We have thick hides."

"Well… I think you guys were good."

Aoba grinned. "You're not just being nice?"

Maya shook her head. "No, I liked it."

And then, the lights went out. There were sounds of shock and then disapproving murmurs from the other patrons around them. Maya spoke up again. "This shouldn't be able to happen."

Makoto spoke up. "Don't worry. The power will be switched to standby soon."

**Scene Shift**

Naoko looked down on the passing countryside in the dark. The ground flowed by rapidly as the VTOL sped towards its goal. In the distance, she could make out her destination, due to the total lack of illumination coming from it. She spared a last look to the Matsushiro Research facility. She needed to turn in before long anyway. She was becoming too fatigued to maintain any mental alertness. And she would need to be sharp for tomorrow. That was when she had planned to use the Lance on the Angel, and reduce it to a more manageable state. That fact made the present circumstance suspicious.

There was no way to lose the main power and the three backup circuits at the same time. It just couldn't happen. Which meant that it had been done as an act of sabotage.

All of this activity did not bode well on the night before she was to perform her riskiest operation to date.

Naoko leaned up to the cockpit. "Double the security detail at the Matsushiro site."

The co-pilot turned his head back. "Yes, ma'am."

Dr. Akagi leaned back. She hoped that Kozo had the good sense to keep all power siphoned to the Magi and Central Dogma.

Her already taxed mind had another problem added to it by a chance glance at the countryside east of Tokyo-3. She saw, with questionable clarity, something massive and sleek move. She looked to the pilot, who was speaking over the radio. Her suspicions were confirmed as she made out his dialogue.

An angel was attacking.

**Scene Shift**

Misato brought her Renault screeching around the corner and towards the vehicular escalator. She stopped the vehicle in front of the gate that barred her entry into the garage of Nerv Headquarters. After the power had went out, Asuka had made an offhand comment about how this would be the worst time for an Angel to attack. That statement had worked on the Major's paranoia until she had decided to err on the side of caution.

"Crud. I forgot the doors that go down to the command bridge from here are hydraulically sealed. I'm not sure where we're supposed to get into this building."

Asuka rolled her eyes, and cupped her hands to her mouth. She leaned her head out the window. "PRETTY GIRLS IN NEED OF SOME ASSISTANCE!"

There was quiet for a moment, and then they could make out approaching footfalls on the concrete. Misato looked at Asuka accusingly. "You just set the women's movement back ten years, you know."

"This from the female who tries to flash every guy that comes into the apartment."

Misato grinned as she made out a man coming around in the corner in the tan outfit of Nerv security. "Someone is feeling defensive of her Shinji."

"Shut up." Any further dialogue fell to the wayside as the sentry approached the car, and Misato explained that the two of them needed to be in HQ.

**Scene Shift**

Shinji heard Rei have a sharp intake of breath. He moved his candle around to see her face. Shadows crept along it from underneath, giving her a macabre appearance. "What is it?"

"I… I don't…"

Shinji pulled himself back up, and studied his cousin more closely. "Rei, you look scared. I can't tell if it's the candle or if it's you. Just tell me what's going on."

"I had one of the dreams, Shinji. While I was awake."

Shinji studied her. "What, one of the 'evil twin' dreams, or the 'going to school in your underwear' dreams?"

Rei spared him an unhappy glare. "I really don't feel like it now."

"Okay, I promise, I'll cut out the bad jokes. So, what was it?"

"Me… her… it was floating around in amber. And I… she was suddenly free of it. Like it had drained away. And I saw a face." Rei checked to make sure Shinji was paying good attention. "I saw a man with a ponytail. I think it was Kaji."

Shinji seemed to ponder that for a moment. "Who?"

"Kaji. I don't remember his whole name. He came over from Germany with Asuka, and she carried on and on about him." The look on Shinji's face showed that he didn't like that particular piece of information. "He was leading the dream-me through somewhere in Nerv. I didn't recognize the place, but I could make out the insignia on the wall."

"What do you make of it?"

"I don't…" Rei trailed off, and she seemed to stare off into the distance. "He's taking me through a hall now. He wants me to go into the ventilation shaft."

Shinji shook Rei. She blinked, and then tears started to fall from her eyes. "Oh no. I think I'm going crazy, Shinji. Maybe it's the pilot stress and Tukagi dumping me: I don't know." She sobbed a little before continuing. "Do people know when they are going insane?"

Shinji pulled her up, and led her into the kitchen, carrying the candle in his other hand. "I don't think there's anything wrong with you, Rei." He placed the candle down, and started shuffling through a drawer beside the sink. He stopped, and pulled out a flashlight. "And I'm willing to prove it. We're going to Nerv."

**Scene Shift**

Maya, Makoto, Aoba, and Haru were crammed into a small Toyota, going as fast as possible. They had left the café at a leisurely pace after it was announced the band would not be coming back for another set, and that power appeared to be out for the rest of the night. Then they had heard one of the VTOLs overhead, and the announcement that an Angel was approaching.

"It's because we were having too much fun." Makoto offered up his theory on why things seemed to be going wrong.

They made their way to a garage. Misato and the Third Child were waiting beside a door that two men on sentry detail were cranking with noticeable strain. The door was almost open now.

Makoto looked excitedly at the Major. "There's an Angel approaching!"

Misato winked down at Asuka. "Murphy's Law holds true again. Come on, we've got to get down to the Eva cages."

There were several more doors waiting for them along the way, and what felt like an endless supply of stair steps. The group made their way through as fast as they could, and were at Unit-02's cage within fifteen minutes. It was a feat that required a marathon-style run on their part. The men appeared to be exhausted, as they had received the brunt of door opening duty.

Yui Ikari was waiting near the entrance to the Cage. Misato gave a slight nod. "Sub-Commander."

"Get Asuka to the loading area. Our battery-operated radios aren't strong enough to allow for communication with the entry plug, and we wouldn't have any battle data or live updates to be of use anyway. The Third Child is to use her own discretion in this operation."

"Understood." Misato turned to leave, bringing Asuka with her.

"You three," Yui indicated the men, "go help with establishing the crane system we'll be using to manually load the entry plug. Commander Fuyutsuki is overseeing the activity."

"Yes, ma'am!"

The Sub-Commander turned next to Maya Ibuki. "You need to come with me. We must be sure that the Magi and Central Dogma are secured. And then we can look at rerouting power to possibly help Asuka in the upcoming battle."

**Scene Shift**

"Up ahead, and to the left." Rei was trotting along beside her cousin now, only half aware of the fact as she continued to see the world through what felt like another's eyes. "We're close. They can hear us."

Shinji slowed, looking more cautious, and studied his surroundings. They were on a sidewalk, and several tall buildings stood around them. The location was comparable to any other in the city. A few trees could be found, but it was for the most part empty.

Rei froze. "They're staring straight at me. There are leaves."

From a darkened bush, a man stepped out. Rei knew at once that it was Kaji. "Well, this is a little embarrassing."

Behind the hedge plant, a figure still knelt, watching. A Nerv blanket was thrown over its head, making an impromptu hood. The individual seemed to be slight, though with the covering it was hard to be certain.

"Who is that?" Rei's eyes locked onto the person, and never wavered.

"Ah, I see now why you two made your way here. This is a very unwanted situation. I don't suppose that if I asked you children to pretend you never saw me, you would comply."

Shinji answered by suddenly springing to action. He jumped at the older man. Kaji stepped aside easily, instantly on guard. "I assume that is a no." Shinji kicked back after his landing. Kaji had been expecting the boy to feint high and moved back. It was not enough to keep him from escaping Shinji's foot, which impacted on his right shin painfully.

The figure stepped from the bushes, and Rei stared intensely at it. It stood, gazing back at her, before carefully lifting its hands and pulling back on its hood. She heard the sound of something that might have been silenced gunfire, but she couldn't bring her attention off of the sight that was about to be unveiled.

Kaji suddenly appeared in Rei's line of sight. "Forgive me, if you can." Rei realized that the man was aiming a pistol with a silenced muzzle at her. She spared a quick look, and saw Shinji sprawled unnaturally on the ground. Then she heard the quiet discharge of the barrel, and felt hot pain in her chest. She fell to the ground quickly, and felt her strength fading fast. She looked back up, and saw Kaji readjusting the blanket over the shadowy figure's head.

Her last sight was of red orbs, staring back at her from the depths of that cowl. Rei was able to summon one last thought. 'I wonder if she could see through my eyes the same way that I saw through hers.'

And then all was dark.

**Scene Shift**

The techs and maintenance crew tugged and strained against the ropes and cables, trying to put in the entry plug. It made its slow progress to the loading port at the base of the Eva's neck. After several false starts, it finally found its way into the insertion point. A diesel generator was fired up, and the automatic loading mechanism twisted the plug all the way in. Across the cage, personnel began chopping hydraulic cables that held safety locks in place. Orders were conveyed back and forth with megaphones, with the Angel's position and activity continually being updated. Unit-02 pushed against the umbilical restraints, freeing itself for action.

Asuka let out a sigh of relief as she began to synchronize with the Eva. The ride in the plug had been stressful, as it had swayed uncomfortably several times. The LCL that was all around her was supposed to keep her safe in case the whole apparatus failed. It would act as a buffer to any impact damage. Still, the Third Child was not eager to test the physics of the arrangement.

Outside, someone shouted the position of the Angel. The quickest way to it was through a launch tube. The Angel had done them the courtesy of waiting close to headquarters, so she didn't have far to go.

Unit-02 scrambled through a shaft, working its progress on hands and knees with as much speed as the maneuver would allow. Even with the battery packs that someone had added to Unit-02's back, the red Eva only had about five minutes of power left. There had also been an automatic rifle close to the cage that she could retrieve. Still, the Third Child preferred to get close to the Angel if at all possible. Firepower rarely did anything to the invading monstrosities.

Asuka kicked the door open to a clearing ahead, which revealed a tube to the surface. Unit-02 exited into the corridor. It made a slow ascent to the surface, with hands and feet spanning to both sides of the cylinder. The starlit sky overhead was suddenly darkened. Asuka switched Unit-02's visual input to lowlight compensators, and she could make out an inverted-dome shaped figure covered with eyeballs over the top of the exit. From the central eye, fluid started to leak. It sprayed around the cylindrical shaft she was climbing, melting her Eva's armor as it hit and causing Unit-02's grip to become tenuous at the sides.

'Acid!' Asuka thought bitterly before whatever grasp she had maintained to the side of the shaft was melted away and Unit-02 plummeted. She reached out wildly, trying to find a hold on something. The Eva's hand grabbed an opening, and Unit-02 slammed into the steel of the shaft as it pivoted around the hand's grip. More acid leaked onto the Eva's head, and this encouraged quick action from Asuka, who made haste in pulling herself into the launch tunnel.

The German girl cursed quietly as she thought over her situation. She had the automatic placed precariously on the Eva's body during the climb, and the fall had caused it to plummet to the bottom of the shaft. With the acid eventually ending up at that same place, there was little hope that the rifle would stay useful for long. She had just passed the three-and-a-half-minute mark on her battery reserves, which meant there wasn't enough time to find another route and fight the Angel. With a yell, Asuka reentered the shaft.

Unit-02 threw its hands up, creating an A.T. Field over its head even as it fell. Acid pooled on top of the barrier. The push from the Absolute Terror Field seemed to accelerate the Eva's descent, and, even with the rockets firing, Unit-02 was barely able to slow down the fall enough to keep from causing itself damage. Asuka grabbed the rifle, which miraculously had just superficial damage to the grip. The action caused her A.T. Field to collapse, and a pool of acid coated her Eva. With a howl, she aimed up and sprayed the opening overhead with gunfire. The acidic downpour stopped, and Asuka could see clear sky again.

"Verdammt!" She began climbing again quickly. The Angel had moved. This time Asuka placed the gun in Unit-02's teeth, and began ascending as speedily as she could manage. Pain shot through her digits as she gripped the metal of the tube. The Eva's fingers were exposed, and looked oddly human. Gritting down, she dug hard into the metal, making her own handholds through sheer strength so that she could climb to the surface quicker. She lucked out by finding places on the side of the vertical shaft where the metal coating was still soft from exposure to the acid. Even with that amount of haste, she saw that her reserves were down to almost one minute of power before she exited the duct.

Asuka activated the A.T. Field again as she pulled with all the strength she could muster and threw her Eva into the air. She had to make a guess as to where the Angel would be.

That guess was wrong. She was blindsided, as a long black leg stabbed into Unit-02's shoulder. The Eva was whipped and slammed onto its back. Even through the inertial dampening provided by her plug, it was enough to jar the pilot. Asuka tasted her own blood in her mouth.

The Angel could now be seen as a spider-like figure, with four long legs extending from a body that was shaped like a covered bowl. The Angel slammed another pointed leg into the Eva's undamaged shoulder, and straddled the unit with its body. Acid started to pour again directly into the Android's face.

There was an explosion, and the ammo in the rifle that was still clutched in Unit-02's jaw detonated. The concussion blasted the Angel aside for a moment. The armor was shredded from the red Eva's jaw, and ragged strips of flesh were shown beneath. Several massive, pointed teeth littered the ground around the Eva's head. Asuka could hardly see straight in her plug, her eyes full of tears from the painful feedback that the synchronization was providing. She kept her focus, as she saw that she only had sixteen seconds of power left. Her whole body burned, but she could feel that the head had taken most of the damage.

Taking advantage of the small instant that the Angel was stunned by the blast, she pulled with all the might her Eva could muster against the impalement of its right shoulder. There was a sickening tear of flesh that could be heard through the cockpit walls, but more importantly felt by the pilot. Then the arm was free, and traveling to the shoulder harness on the opposite side. Almost too quick to follow, the hand reached for a now exposed progressive knife. The Angel pulled out the leg that held the Eva down, intent on re-pinning the Android beneath it. The Eva was faster, and made a brutal swipe for the body of the Angel. There were holes in the Angel's flesh, clustered in the center and traveling out to the side where the Angel had retreated from the earlier gunfire. Asuka used these as a guide for her cut, and the blade of her knife bit deep and true.

She felt her Eva's arm jar as it got close to the central eye on the bottom. She gritted her teeth, and pulled harder. There was a loud crackling noise, and the Angel stopped everything it was doing. Asuka attempted to roll her Eva aside, but only got partway through the process before the battery reserves were fully depleted.

**Scene Shift**

Naoko observed the data pads Maya was providing her with. Luckily, their laptops had battery reserves, and these were more than enough to do the calculations that were required.

"Maya, do me a favor and have unnecessary personnel evacuate the base. Also, fetch us some air tanks."

Ibuki nodded. "We're about to lose life support?"

"Within a half hour, breathing will become difficult in certain areas. Open expanses will be safe, and we have no shortage of those. Still, better safe than sorry."

Maya hurried away, and Naoko studied the readings she was getting from the Magi over her computer. She leaned back against the metal casing that housed Melchior. A shadow blocked the candlelight, and Naoko looked up to see Commander Fuyutsuki.

"Sabotage?" The old man could not have been graver as he made the word into a question.

"There was never any doubt of that. The question is, who. It is pretty obvious why such a thing would happen."

Kozo looked grim. "By watching us restart, someone could figure out a lot about the layout of headquarters."

"I would say that, by observing what we've done with our limited supply of power, they already have some good indicators as to where our priorities lie."

"Do we know who did this yet, Naoko?"

"I'm trying to find out."

Maya came running back in. She held a paper in her hand. Her look was one of dread. She handed the text to Naoko. "This is urgent, ma'am. It was just carried over from a team at the Matsushiro site."

Naoko read the message, and dropped it to the floor. Kozo picked it up and examined it.

_Unknown parties have ransacked the Matsushiro Research Facility. Of the twenty-six Section Two agents on detail, nineteen suffered fatalities. Seven agents are still unaccounted for. The remains of the Third Angel, designated Sachiel, including the S2 organ, are missing. Also, the Eighth Angel, designated Sandalphon, is missing from the Bakelite casing it shared with Unit-00. A team of no less than eight men in unmarked dark clothing assaulted the facility, though logistical extrapolation would put the count closer to forty._

Kozo was brought from his perusal of the document by a loud crash. He looked to a nearby wall, where electrical components lay scattered around a laptop casing. He turned his gaze back to Dr. Akagi, who stood with her body heaving and nostrils flaring with labored breath. On her face was a strained sneer of contempt. She seemed to notice that all eyes had turned towards her now. With a visible effort, Naoko tried to calm herself. She turned to Maya.

"Ms. Ibuki, did you finish giving notice of the life support system becoming strained?"

Maya nodded meekly. "Yes, ma'am."

"Please get a security detail of two agents to escort you to Central Dogma. Make sure everything is in order."

Maya turned and scurried away.

Sub-Commander Yui Ikari came in from the door Maya was leaving, and made her way to Commander Fuyutsuki. "I need to leave." Kozo could tell that even though Yui's voice was calm, emotion threatened to break out at any time. He could see the moisture trapped in her eyes.

"Of course." He stepped aside, dragging Yui with him with a gentle a hand on her elbow. Quietly, he continued. "What's wrong?"

"It's Shinji and Rei. Section Two can't find them."


	18. Scenario no Yui Chapter 18

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion

Cyber Undead proofread this story. Any lack of spelling and grammatical errors is due in large part to his efforts.

**Cyber Undead shows up and screams hysterically**: NO, IT'S NOT! I ONLY FOUND TEN THINGS TO CORRECT! TEN! MY TIME IS OVER! GUPPYLIPS NO LONGER NEEDS ME!

**Cyber Undead weeps and sobs like there's no tomorrow.**

My appreciation is also extended to Big D, who looked over some of the finer points of the plot.

My heartfelt thanks go out to both of you.

**Chapter 18**

A bored radar operator was killing time by watching the nightly news on a separate screen. There was sporadic coverage of the Angel attack going on in Tokyo-3. The news agency was actually getting some shots of the Angel, probably due to the fact that the normal Nerv censorship was hampered by the power outage in Tokyo-3. He almost missed the sudden blips on the radar screen as something closed within the forty-kilometer mark. Luck was with him, as the station had just turned over to a commercial break. He studied the radar screen intently, waiting for another sweep to verify what he thought he had seen. Sure enough, it was there. He picked up a phone, and dialed a number. After a few rings, he was in touch with his superior.

"Sir, I have three blips in Quadrant 37. They are moving slow, and appear to be large in size."

There was a pause, before the tech answered again. "No sir, I do not believe this is Angelic activity. If I had to take a guess, I would say that it is a trio of aircraft. Given the size of the blips, I would guess that they are maybe slow moving U.N. VTOLs, or perhaps helicopters."

Another pause as the person at the other end responded. "Yes, sir. I just didn't have any notification or scheduled air travel. I'll return to post. Over and out."

**Scene Shift**

The Matsushiro site was a morbid setting. The sky was perpetually gray throughout the morning, adding to the feeling of gloom that seemed to cling to anyone who ventured too close to the area.

Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki could hear his labored breath in the biohazard suit. He walked around the area, taking notice of the white outlines that represented a corpse from one of his Section Two agents. The whole division was going to have to be rebuilt after this devastating loss. This had cost Nerv over a third of its capacity in that department.

He approached a massive flatbed vehicle that was now empty. This had been where the core from the first Angel had resided. To the side and fifty meters away, Unit-00 was encased in Bakelite, though only a few stray orange shards clung to the front of the android. He made his way over, and stepped on soggy Earth. It occurred to Kozo that it had not rained recently; so he bent down to examine the ground closer. Glancing around quickly, Commander Fuyutsuki dipped a gloved finger to the earth.

He turned to one of the many people who were in orange protective suits. He tapped the side of his face shield, activating an audio link. "Secure me a helicopter back to Nerv Headquarters." The person, perhaps a woman, though it was difficult to discern through the face shield, saluted, and took off at a trot. Kozo walked over to the main investigator on site. She stood at attention when she noticed his approach.

"Commander Fuyutsuki, sir."

"What do you have?"

"The stolen materials appear to have been airlifted, as we can find no tracks of any sort."

"That's something. With all of the early warning systems against an Angelic attack spread across the countryside, we should have some report of the movement."

"As of yet, we have nothing, sir. Apparently, most of the stations were tracking the Angel's movements to Tokyo-3. Because of the high volume of air traffic to act as communication relays last night, we are still sorting through to discern which aircraft might be the culprits. With the news agencies being slow to work with us out of spite for our censorship of the previous battles, it is hard to determine which aircraft are theirs."

"Keep at it. Somebody saw something. I don't care if we have to interview every person on duty that night. We have to find out who did this."

"Yes, sir."

Someone approached and let Kozo know his transportation was ready. He thanked them, before continuing with the investigator.

"Forward a forensic summary to my office. If you find anything of interest, include it in the report."

The investigator nodded once. "Understood, sir."

Fuyutsuki waited until they were in the air before he took off his biohazard suit. He removed his glove first, and placed it carefully on a nearby seat. He then removed his helmet, and lifted the glove to his nose. He smelled of the wet fingertip that he had drug across the ground earlier.

It smelled like blood.

Kozo had a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach, as he believed that he knew what had happened to the missing seven agents. He decided to keep to himself his suspicion that they were all around the site, having been transformed into puddles of LCL.

How close had the human race come to ultimate disaster?

Kozo looked out the window, contemplating how easy it was for everything to come undone. He now had something else to hunt for on top of Nerv's stolen materials. If the Angel had been forced to abandon its individuality through outside coercion, it was most likely because of one thing. Someone had a copy of the Spear of Destiny.

The Commander was stirred out of his reverie upon learning of their approach to Tokyo-3. He glanced out his window, ready to see the damage caused by the battle with the latest Angel in daylight. Upon looking at the sprawled form of Unit-02, he almost hissed in sympathetic pain.

How had Asuka survived?

The cranial casing was gone. One of the behemoth's four eyes bulged from its socket. Part of the lower jaw had been blown completely off, and teeth littered the ground around it. There were fewer teeth in the giant's mouth than scattered about the earth. Where the face wasn't shredded into ragged ribbons, huge boil-like clusters covered the skin.

The left shoulder had been pierced at some point, he knew from the reports he had received earlier in the morning. A massive amount of fluid pooled under the right upper torso. A ragged tear ran through the right shoulder, and Fuyutsuki could see the socket joint underneath. There were puddles around the Eva's exposed fingers, where they had bled as well. The hands had fingernails that looked oddly human. On several of the digits, these nails had peeled back or been split and cracked somehow. All across Unit-02's body, random clumps of armor had melted off, and the exposed skin beneath sported nasty looking blisters.

Kozo's initial concern had been for the pilot. If she sported stigmata in the manner that the Second Child had recently manifested, she would be ruined. The ripped flesh on the shoulder would maim anyone. Knowing that Asuka's damage was superficial and that her health was intact, his mind immediately started calculating the repair costs. There would be more fights with the Committee over the budget.

These battles were very taxing on the Evas. He would have to see if there was some way of sparing some of this damage in future conflicts.

**Scene Shift**

Asuka brushed her hair, letting it fall over the front of her face. She yawned, and felt her jaw pop again. It felt good, as if it had slipped back into socket. She played with her auburn tresses again, and frowned at the result in the mirror. Her fingers were red and slightly swollen. They still hurt when she touched anything. But what really pissed her off were the ugly red blotches that had sprung up on her visage. Her face appeared to be covered in a rash, especially on the right side.

She had tired of hearing Dr. Akagi telling her how lucky she was that the feedback from the Eva hadn't been worse. For instance, she could have dislocated or suffered an injury to her shoulder. Asuka knew on some level that she was lucky to be getting off with some bad dermatology. But still, looking at the ugly face she made in the mirror, the Third Child would have preferred to deal with a reset joint.

The restroom was quiet for a moment as Asuka studied her image. Finally, the girl left the sink, and made slow progress to the door. There was a deodorizing piece sitting on a shelf close to the exit. Asuka paused and studied it. She picked it up, and turned it in her hand. Then, spinning around to add to the force of the throw, she started to hurl it at one of the mirrors. She saw her anger-contorted facer reflected in the mirror, and froze in the middle of the move. She considered her image, and dropped the deodorizer into the floor. Asuka dejectedly opened the bathroom door and left.

**Scene Shift**

A man with salt and pepper hair was staring stoically ahead. The only indication that anything was going on around him was the slight perspiration that could be seen along his hairline, and the occasionally coloring of his cheeks. Before him, a woman, both older and much slighter, was talking in a raised tone.

"I have to wonder if Section Two is delegating its least effective assets to the security of the Children." Yui turned to look out the window. "The witness that we questioned described two teenagers in the dark with a flashlight! How hard could it be to follow them?" Yui would not have been so harsh if she had not been informed that the agents tasked with the job were fine. She was not unaware of the difficulties and heartache that was going in the security division, especially given the loss that had been suffered at the Matsushiro site. But since it appeared that her children's detail had simply been incompetent, she felt the need to let someone hear about it.

"I cannot apologize sufficiently for the negligence of the agents assigned to Shinji and Rei Ikari. Their shame is my own. I have devoted all possible assets to their recovery."

Yui looked at him darkly. "You will find them. Pray that they are unharmed."

**Scene Shift**

Naoko and Maya looked up as Major Katsuragi knocked on the door. Naoko beckoned her in. As soon as Misato had entered, Naoko spoke. "Lock the door."

Misato turned the locking mechanism on the knob, and made her way to the empty chair beside Maya and across the desk from Dr. Akagi. "What have you got for me?"

Naoko favored Maya with a glance. "Lt. Ibuki, would you be a dear and get us three coffees?"

Maya nodded her head, seeming more than a little eager to leave. Dr. Akagi got up behind her, and made sure the door was locked again after Maya went out it. This made Misato nervous. "This is going to be bad, isn't it?" Naoko nodded in response. She walked back to her computer, and pulled up a playback program on her monitor. She swiveled the screen to give Misato a better view.

"Is it footage from the Matsushiro site?"

"No, it's not. These pictures are from within Nerv HQ."

The screen showed a room that was lit with a scarlet glow. A hospital bed was in the middle of the space, with a folding white divider behind it. On the bed was a girl, sporting a thin silhouette. She wore a hospital gown and had several bandages along her body, most noticeably on the head and left arm. Restraints were strapped across her body, and her wrists were secured to the bed railing. Though it was difficult to be certain with the odd light tint, Misato thought that the girl's short hair was blue.

"Is that Rei?" Misato asked, dumbstruck. Had someone sent them a video message? Were Shinji and Rei in a hostage situation? If that were the case, it would make little sense for Naoko to say this footage was from inside the base.

"That question is very tricky to answer, Major. Just watch for now."

A man walked onto the screen. He made his way to the form on the bed, and started to remove the bindings. Misato thought she could make out is features, and her breath escaped her. A ponytail, several days of growth on the beard stubble, and a square jaw that she would be able to identify anywhere told her what she needed to know.

This was a video of Kaji Ryoji.

Misato checked the date again. It was set at 22:30 of the night before.

"We have several cameras in that area. For reasons I won't go into yet, this particular camera ran on an independent power source. Eight C batteries are enough to keep it active for a week at a time. Incidentally, it means this camera is separate from the rest of the monitoring devices in our security grid. This is important, because the rest of the cameras at this time showed nothing. I believe Mr. Ryoji, or someone that was working with him, ran looped footage."

Misato watched as Kaji helped Rei to her feet. The girl was unsteady, and Kaji braced her. Misato couldn't see his lips, but from the way Kaji was bent down and the position of his head she assumed that Kaji was speaking to her. Rei just stared ahead vacantly. Kaji shook her a little once, but the vacant look still remained. Finally, he put a blanket over the teenager and led her off screen.

Misato looked over at Naoko, a little stunned. "I thought Kaji was…" Katsuragi stopped, realizing that she was about to make a mistake. "I thought he had been reassigned."

Naoko smiled. "We're on the same side here, Major. You obviously heard that Mr. Ryoji had been captured by the Americans as a terrorist."

Misato did nothing for a moment, collecting her thoughts. She had been scrambling to get intelligence on the whereabouts and condition of Kaji. She had pulled in a few favors, but she had very little besides the fact that he might be in the continental U.S. Even that seemed wrong. At last, Misato nodded her head. "I guess that was just a rumor."

Naoko looked back to the screen. "It wasn't. The Americans captured him, and held him for interrogation for some time. There are three important questions surrounding Mr. Ryoji: Why did the Americans take Kaji, why did they release him, and what is he doing here?"

Misato felt her anger threaten to rise again, and attempted to set it aside again. She had vowed to attempt to free him from whatever prison he was in. She had three Evas at her disposal, and would eventually find an excuse to get herself off base so she could do something to help him. And here was evidence of Kaji, apparently fine, betraying Nerv and kidnapping Rei.

"So, Kaji is the one who kidnapped The First and Second Child." Misato's hand balled into a fist, and she slammed it onto the desk. "How could he do that?" Her voice rose with her rage.

Naoko cast a glance at the door, and then turned back to Major Katsuragi. "As far as I know, Shinji and Rei aren't involved in this incident. I understand how you must feel, but we need to be quiet. We are talking about things that would be frowned upon by our superiors."

Misato stood up, her mouth open as if she were going to yell. She shut it quickly, and composed herself. In a quieter voice she finally said. "Commander Fuyutsuki and Sub-commander Ikari know about this? Why are they keeping it quiet?"

Naoko gestured to the air. "I'm not sure how much those two know. We have had a major disaster here. Not only were we sabotaged, but we also suffered a kidnapping in HQ, and a large-scale heist of what were our most precious materials, outside of the Evas and Magi systems. If the full scope of what happened here were to leak out to the public, there would be panic. The people would lose faith in Nerv's ability to operate."

"So we're covering up the fact and letting unknown perpetrators run free. They have an Angel and two pilots!" Misato's face darkened. "We have to find Kaji."

Naoko held up a hand. "I agree. However, we need to clarify some things first." There was a knock at the door. Naoko hit a button on her keyboard, and her monitor switched to its normal desktop view. "Come in." Maya entered, carrying a cardboard tray that had three out of four cup holders containing coffee and a few muffins in an opening in the middle. She smiled sheepishly, until she saw the look on Misato's face. Becoming serious, she turned and closed the door behind her, locking it again before bringing the tray to the desk.

"Thank you, Maya. There is something you need to know, Misato. We are not being given the full truth by our superiors."

"In their defense, we don't have to know everything to fight the Angels." Misato stared a second at the computer screen on Naoko's desk, as if she could still see the video on it. "But I agree, we do need to know more to keep events like last night from happening. At the very least we should be made aware of all of our enemies."

"Lt. Ibuki and I have been making observations for some time, based on the actions of our enemy and what tidbits get filtered down to us. You have been left in the dark on important matters Misato, and that is something I am going to change, against direct orders."

Maya merely nodded her silent assent. This was not good enough for Naoko though. "You don't have to be here. There is still enough room for you to claim deniability were this to come to disciplinary actions, Maya."

Misato turned to regard Ibuki as well. "I don't want you to get in trouble on my account."

The technician shook her head, and looked to Dr. Akagi. "I'm with you, ma'am."

Naoko nodded. "All right. Misato, just let me talk, and we'll save the questions till I've had a chance to explain things. I believe we'll start with the truth about Rei."

Misato leaned forward, and listened carefully.

**Scene Shift**

The light in the lab was especially bright, considering the fluorescents that the senior tech was used to. With over two hundred foot of earth between him and the sun, he had expected to work on a pasty skin tone to sickeningly yellowish halogen lights.

He glanced at the embryo on the screen in front of his lab station.

Several sensors had been placed on the inside of the storage device that now housed the specimen. It had been removed from the cryogenic case that had been used to transport it, and moved to a more secure locale. Thermal sensors showed that the body of the embryo had slight warmth it had not possessed upon arrival. Over the last week, the thing had grown one and a quarter inches. Dropping the temperature another ten degrees the day before seemed to have stunted the growth spurt some, but not enough.

He needed to get the growth down to nil before they attempted to extract samples. The embryo was at best an unstable specimen. This thing had caused Second Impact the last time its ego-borderline had been threatened. A scraping shouldn't cause anything that extreme, but a haphazard approach by the Katsuragi expedition had caused the deaths of billions. He would not have that on his head, even if his superiors were rushing him to get on with his work.

He retrieved a manifest to double check the materials currently in the isolation chamber with the specimen. He wanted to be sure that the extreme cold did not cause any components to loose their structural integrity. This had to be done with a maximum of care.

And then he would drop the temperature, and if satisfied, begin the protocol for removing a sample.

As his hand reached out to tap a key on the computer in front of him, he noticed that is was shaking violently. He placed it on the table, and was aware of the sweat rolling off his brow, even in this cool environment.

**Scene Shift**

Misato parked her car in front of the restaurant, and turned off the engine. She had a lot to digest.

Rei was a clone of Yui and the Angels? There were multiple clones of her? Nerv had Adam in Terminal Dogma? The Angels were throwing their fights! And the Commander and Sub-Commander were operating under their own agendas.

She didn't know what to make of all of this. But the more Naoko and Maya had discussed things, the more she became convinced that they were right. The Angels had curtailed their abilities to make a balanced fight. This latest Angel was proof of that. What sort of chance did an Angel that dripped acids from underneath its torso have against three functioning Evas with full electrical power backing them up? Maya had been correct in saying that, from a strategic point-of-view, it was a weakened version of the Fifth Angel.

It left two options: either the angels had some talent for gauging the strength of their opponents, or someone from Nerv's side was somehow augmenting the battles, whether by sabotage or supplying information to the enemy.

The presence of Kaji during the latest battle tended to suggest the latter. Misato's mouth formed a firm line as she thought about Kaji cutting the power for the latest battle. That bastard at the very least had been working in tandem with the Angels. At the worst, he was somehow on their side.

Misato beat a fist against the outside of the steering wheel. She did not want Kaji to be the enemy. She didn't like the way she had to shift gears and go from being his savior to his adversary.

Misato checked herself in the mirror, and ran her fingers through her hair. She had to get under control. Naoko had been right about one thing: the biggest danger of the three women finding out the truth on their own was in their tipping their hand. It was going to be difficult to keep what she did know and what she should know separate. Misato being seen as frustrated was totally believable right now, as everyone at headquarters was feeling that. She was fine, but didn't need to overindulge in her anger.

Misato got out of the car, and made her way to the restaurant. She wasn't hungry anymore, but she would make an attempt to get some food down.

**Scene Shift**

Kozo sat behind his desk, his head in his hands. He cradled his brow, and let his thumbs run over his temples in circular motions. He let that go on for a minute before he turned his eyes back to Yui. She was pacing like a caged animal, taking several steps before whipping back around, keeping close to the desk. He had asked her to stay away from the search attempt for Shinji and Rei, knowing her presence would only serve to stress the operatives looking for the Children.

She hadn't taken the suggestion well, but was able to recognize on some level that Kozo was right. Besides, this latest turn of events warranted some discussion.

"I believe they have a Lance." Kozo finally spoke up again.

Yui stopped, and looked at Fuyutsuki questioningly. "What?"

"When I went to the Matsushiro site, I found several samples of LCL. I didn't alert the forensics team, as it would have been hard to explain. They'll probably gather some anyway, believing they may have blood samples from the attackers. Who knows: considering the most likely source, there may be trace amounts of the initial person's DNA in each puddle."

"How did they get the Lance? It's still in Terminal Dogma."

"There are copies. Throughout the ages various people have tried to make their own 'Spear of Destiny' by assembling powerful relics as components. Usually, it'll be something like a saints bone wrapped into the handle. Sometimes the combination is powerful enough that you have to wonder if the attempt might be successful. For instance, I know of one attempt that involved inlaying the wooden shaft of the spear with a splinter from the true cross, and lacing the spearhead with a barb from the crown of thorns."

"Surely this is something we can follow up."

"Perhaps. If we are fortunate, the Church may have an account of such items leaving their possessions. It's not a very good chance, since so much was lost during the turmoil of the Second Impact, but it's worth investigating."

Yui finally sat down, though her leg still bounced a little as she tried to think. "Has Naoko found anything?"

"No. She showed me the footage from the security cameras before the blackout. Nothing was recorded that would suggest who our perpetrator was. We believe that a person was able to hack into the grid and run a loop. Naoko is performing a system diagnostic to try and locate any suspicious entries, but we are talking about the Magi. Any thorough search through the massive amounts of information…"

"Will take forever." Yui finished. Her head dropped, and her features became angry. "Whoever it was, I'll kill them."

The phone rang at the desk. Kozo answered, and as Yui looked on in interest, Kozo spoke. "I see… What is their condition? ... Good. Room 1465 you say… Very well. I thank you for your quick response and attention." A slam of the office door brought Kozo's attention away from the phone, and he could see where Yui had made a hasty exit.

**Scene Shift**

Asuka yawned as she reached for her cell phone. She cracked one eye and winced, immediately closing it again to keep the brightness of the afternoon sun out. She pressed the answer button and mumbled something that might have been "Hup?"

She couldn't make out the exact words of the voice on the other end, but she could tell the person was excited. Slowly, she realized it was Misato. She cracked on eye and looked at the digital clock beside her bed, careful to hold up her hand in case a stray sunbeam came to blind her again. It proclaimed the time as being 12:31 P.M. "I've been asleep for three hours Misato. Can this wait?"

Misato yelled at her from the other end of the phone, and whatever part of her brain that had been holding on to sleep finally surrendered. "Sheiss. What did you say again?"

"I said they found Shinji. And Rei was with him as well."

"So? Have they been missing?"

"Yes. We thought they were abducted. Didn't you know?"

"No, I just showered, went to the med lab for a checkup, which took forever with the power out, and came back to the apartment to sleep. Just as well, it sounds like the wonder twins were fine."

"I guess so. But they were both shot."

"WHAT? Someone shot Shinji? Who?"

"We don't know yet, and neither one has regained consciousness."

Asuka threw her covers off, and started to make her way the bathroom. "Are they at Nerv's Medical Wing?"

"Yes."

"I'll be right down." Asuka hit the disconnect button on her phone, and tossed it back into her room. She kicked off clothes as she went through the hall, and stopped in front of the mirror. She studied her face again, and with a sneer of contempt got out the hairbrush.

**Scene Shift**

Aoba watched as techs went down the hall in a hurried pace towards the lunchroom. Today was a big day for skittering and unhappy looks. Everyone was taking the loss of the Section Two agents hard. Information on the raid was supposed to be kept to a certain level within the Nerv hierarchy, and confidential to the rest, but it only took one loose mouth around the water cooler to make the gossip spread and, from the body language and mannerisms of the people he had met, news had gotten around.

It was a sort of morbid camaraderie that he could have done without. They were all united with the same horror and dread after last night. Someone had stolen an Angel. Someone had killed Nerv agents to do it. There was a common thread that ran among most of the personnel at Nerv, a sense of pride that let them hold their heads high, even as they sent out children to fight monsters of biblical proportions. And it was this: each one of them was securing the survival of the human race. The well being of mankind was being hefted onto every set of shoulders in that building, and it was the right thing to do. But it was hard to keep that hero complex going when it was discovered that mankind, at least a small part of it, did not seem to want their help.

At some level, Aoba believed people were inherently good. They might get wore down by the gears of the machine and their sense of right and wrong twisted by experiences. But aside from the occasional asshole that had some sort of chemical imbalance or childhood trauma, people, by and large, didn't suck.

At least, not until they started joining up with the enemies of mankind and murdering its defenders.

"Thinking deep thoughts, Shigeru." Makoto walked up him. Aoba nodded, and Makoto looked ahead. "Don't dwell on it. Let's just do our part to find the rotten finks who sabotaged us."

Aoba nodded again. "I'm about to go off duty myself. You should consider doing the same. We've just pulled almost a double shift, and that was after a full day of work yesterday."

Makoto shook his head. "I'm waiting around for Misato or Maya."

Aoba shook his head. "Don't tell me you're going to try and take advantage of this crisis with a few vulnerable women. I don't know whether to be ashamed of you or admire you."

Makoto waved his hands. "Nothing like that. Well, not with Maya anyway, I still think she's a good fit for you."

Aoba shook his head. "Have we got to go over this again? It's a bad idea."

"Anyway, those women seem to have access to all the good tidbits of knowledge, and they'll talk to me. Maya works close with Dr. Akagi and, from all appearances, gets to sit in on the meetings with the big wigs. Misato gets to know stuff based on her rank, and she might feel obligated to let me know some things, considering I've been doing her laundry for her."

"Now might not be the best time to snoop, Makoto. There's never a good time to pry, but to do it now is just stupid."

Makoto patted his friend on the back as he prepared to leave. "Don't worry, I'm not going to get crazy. I just want a little hearsay, or at least an idea of who did this to Nerv." Makoto veered towards the cafeteria, while Aoba made his way towards the time clocks. "You okay to drive?"

Aoba nodded. "Yeah, it's not far. I'll be fine." With a quick wave, Aoba was gone.

**Scene Shift **

Rei wasn't sure how she had gotten there, but she was on a train. She could hear the wheels rolling along the tracks outside. There was the sound of a railroad crossing sign being activated, but it sounded disjointed to her somehow. The noise was warbled and off-tune. She was sitting in a seat in a mostly vacant car. The illumination had a red tint to it that made the car seem menacing and surreal. There were windows along both sides of the car, and though it seemed to be dark past those panes of glass, Rei did not want to look past them. Something out there frightened her, but if she did not see it, it made it less substantial, as if existence was merely fueled by her awareness of it.

Across from her, a mirror image of herself smiled vacantly. It shuffled in its seat.

Rei jerked back in horror. "Stay away from me."

The girl who wore her features added a humorless laugh to accompany her vacant smile.

"I mean it."

Rei felt sick. She worried that she might vomit, but what had first felt like nausea gave way to weakness. For a moment she thought her body might be incapable of movement. Even as Rei's strength ebbed, the girl across from her seemed to gain control of herself. A spark of intelligence was behind her eyes now. There were no more smiles and no more laughs.

Rei leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees, her frame slumping forward. She had to strain to keep her head from falling over, and her eyelids felt as if they had been weighted down by lead. "Who are you?"

The girl seemed to consider this. When she answered, her voice was like Rei's, but devoid of emotion. There was no passion, no stress, and no intent evident in it. "I am you, but I am me."

"That helped." Rei sighed. "Where are we?"

"I do not know. I do not know more than you know."

Rei nodded. "I get it. I got drugged, and now I'm having some sort of hallucination or bad trip."

"I am unsure as to whether this is the case. Conscious thought is mercurial to me. I am not sure that I am real." The girl who looked like Rei raised her head, and her eyes narrowed a small bit. "Perhaps I cannot be me while you still exist as yourself. Perhaps what little bit of me there is would be erased if you perished? I do not know. But I think so long as you are you, I can not be me."

Rei let her glance drift to one of the windows for a moment, and she thought she saw movement. She quickly turned her eyes back to the other girl. "I'm too tired for this silly riddle crap: if you're threatening me just say it plainly." When the girl did not answer, Rei looked up and down to compartment. "So, where is this going? In the common tongue, if you don't mind."

"I am uncertain. I believe we are on the path to God."

"Oh well, I guess that's what I get for asking. I suppose that stop would be about fifteen kilometers past Kyoto?"

The other girl looked at Rei now, and got up from her seat. She walked over to Rei now. "I do not think I like you. You make me whole and incomplete at the same time." She took a calm step towards the other side of the car. Though the move held no menace in it, Rei thought it was one of the scariest things she had ever seen.

Rei closed her eyes. It was tempting just to let them stay that way. "Just go away. I don't know what the Hell is happening now, but my life is plenty screwed up without this. Leave me alone." Rei opened her eyes, and she was in the car by herself. She looked up to the window, and saw the other girl's face again. The same vacant smile was on her face, and it floated there a moment, before disappearing into the mercurial darkness. Rei got up, feeling her strength returning to her, and stared out the window. She could see men out there now. She recognized their uniforms at a glance: Section Two Agents in sentry dress. She could count five, and knew there was more. They would float in and out of her field of vision, so it was hard to tell how many there were for sure. Suddenly she saw her own face plastered against the glass, the right cheek and forehead pressing to form white circles above and below her right eye. The face laughed.

**Scene Shift**

"Rei!" Rei blinked, and her field of vision was filled with her aunt's face. The woman loomed over her, and Rei decided to sit up. She groaned at the pain that erupted from her chest. She felt hands gently push her down. "Hold still, dear. Don't try to move."

Rei relaxed back into the bed. "What happened?"

"We don't know. An elderly couple found you and Shinji in their apartment. The two had evacuated the place and went to stay with their son for the night after leaving the shelters. They didn't come back until after lunch today."

Rei opened her eyes, looking around the hospital room. "Shinji?"

"He's sleeping like a baby. You were always the light sleeper of the bunch."

Rei had a light grin on her face that immediately disappeared when she looked down at her body. There were still scabs around the top of her shoulder from the battle with Sandalphon. In addition to that, there was a large bandage just to the left of her sternum. She touched it with a finger, and immediately jerked back her hand.

"Don't go picking at it." Yui's scolding was partly playful, but tinged with a mother's authoritarian tone. "You've got a nasty puncture, with bruising around the wound."

"Don't worry, I'll leave it alone. What happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell me. Do you know who did this to Shinji and you?"

Rei struggled through her thoughts. As something dredged itself up from her memory, Rei's mood became dour.

"What is it, Rei?"

Rei looked at Yui, seeming to study her for a moment. "Aunt Yui, do I have a twin?"

Rei tried to read Yui's body language, looking for any sign that would let her know if she was hiding something. And she saw it. Her aunt hesitated, and there was a surprised expression that was quickly covered up. After a moment, she finally spoke. "Why would you think that?"

"I think I met her. While the power was out, Shinji and I went chasing after things I saw through her."

There was a groan from beside the two. "What the Hell?"

Yui turned around, the intent expression changing to joy at Shinji's awakening. "Honey, you're awake."

There was a light rap at the door. Yui took one look at her children, making sure they were decent. She suspected that someone on the nursing staff that was monitoring vital signs had detected a shift as the two teens had gained consciousness. Seeing that everything was presentable, she called out for the person to enter. She was surprised to see Asuka on the other side.

Asuka made a slight bow as she entered. "Sub-Commander Ikari." As she rose back up, the German was careful to keep her hair draped over the side of her face, hiding one of her eyes.

Yui smiled. "Pilot Sohryu. Please come in, the children are just waking up." Yui was glad for the distraction, which gave her a chance to collect her thoughts concerning Rei before talking to her. Asuka walked past Yui, who had a seat between the two beds, to sit at a chair on the other side of Shinji.

Shinji let a hand lift up to Asuka's banes. "Trying to look mysterious?" He mumbled.

Asuka jerked back, putting a little more distance between them. "Don't."

Shinji nodded, before turning back to his mother. "What happened? The last thing I remember was being shot by that Ryoji guy."

Yui turned to gaze at her son intently. "Who shot you?"

"The guy that brought Asuka over. Ryoji… umm… was it Kaji?" Shinji looked over to his cousin for affirmation, and Rei nodded. "Yeah, Kaji had someone huddled up in a blanket and when Rei and I caught him he shot…"

Shinji was interrupted by a loud slap to his face. Asuka stood over Shinji, her hand still in the air from where she had used it. "You lying little bastard! Kaji did not…"

Yui had hit a call button, and was advancing on the Third Child quickly. "You're going to have to leave now, Asuka Langley Sohryu."

Asuka turned to rush past Yui, but the Sub-Commander caught her by the arm. Asuka shrug out of the grip and turned quickly on the woman. "I'm not staying to hear these lies. You can have each other and rot!" Asuka let her gaze slide over all of them, before turning to rush out the door. A pair of surprised nurses moved aside as she went storming past.

Rei watched it all, sorry for her cousin, but a little relieved that Asuka had shown her true colors to Shinji. Now maybe he could see what it was he had been courting. That little display should be enough to get him to look past how pretty Asuka was. But when Rei turned back to Shinji, who Yui was now hovering over and tending to, she couldn't feel any satisfaction. The look of hurt on Shinji's face, and the tears standing up in his eyes, was enough to make Rei believe she was a monster for ever having thought what had just happened might be a good thing. He caught her glance, and turned quickly away, ashamed of the tears that were threatening to spill.

Rei regarded Yui again. The two of them were going to have a talk. And it would be soon. But Rei, who had shared practically everything in her life with Shinji, didn't know if she wanted him around for that. She had just been spurned by her love interest, Tukagi Ikita, and he hadn't even shown the slightest bit of interest. She knew it was the most awful feeling she had ever felt. How much worse must it be for Shinji, who was being led on by some exotic, foreign beauty? He didn't talk to her about it much, but Rei knew that Shinji had believed there was a special relationship between him and Asuka. He must feel horrible.

Shinji's plate was full: there was no need to burden him with any other troubles. But Rei would find out who that person was that had been with Kaji. And she would find it out soon.


	19. Scenario no Yui Chapter 19

**Disclaimer**: Surely you don't think someone with the penname of Guppy Lips owns the Eva franchise.

Prereader credit goes to Cyber Undead. I can't thank him enough.

**Chapter 19**

Rei kicked off her shoes at the door, and adjusted her book bag. She cupped a hand to her mouth and called out, "I'm home." She looked towards the entryway to the hall, waiting for a response, but none came. It could be that Shinji was elsewhere. Rei hoped that Shinji had pulled himself out of his depression enough to go out into the world.

Rei became a little concerned when he didn't answer. She dropped her bag on the table with a nonchalant toss and went at a brisk pace to his room. She didn't let her fear materialize on an upper level of her mind, instead just moving quickly with the knowledge that she wanted to check on him. But somewhere deeper in her psyche, she was concerned over how depressed her cousin had been lately.

She knocked on his door. When she didn't get an answer, she hurriedly opened it. Shinji was lying on his bed, facing away from the hall. He had his SDAT loosely cradled in one hand, and his earplugs were in. He didn't do anything to acknowledge her presence. As Rei watched, he shifted, moving his head slightly on his pillow.

"You're going to have to get out of this thing where you wallow in self-pity. It's not healthy." Rei waited a moment, but all that followed was silence. "Fine, I'll let you have another hour or two of feeling bad, but then I'm dragging you out of this room and into reality again. I'm having difficulties too, but I don't get to lay out of school because of it." Rei thought about adding a tidbit about how Shinji was always willing to take any excuse to dodge his scholarly duties, but it felt too much like kicking him while he was down. Sighing, she closed the door.

Rei walked to her room, and started changing out of her school clothes. Her mind fell to Tukagi again for the hundredth time that day, and for the hundredth time she chased that train of thought out. And as with all the other occurrences, the flitting image of the Section Two agent managed to sap whatever good cheer might have been brewing within her.

Fast on it was the other image that had managed to plague her throughout the previous days: a set of red eyes, peering at her from beneath a hood.

Rei slipped into some jogging pants and a loose sweatshirt. She planned on getting through with her homework, and then she was going to go out and do some sort of activity. Even if it was just jogging, she needed to do something, and so did Shinji.

A light rap came on her door. Rei expected it to be Shinji, and was surprised to hear a woman's voice instead. "Rei?"

"Hey, Aunt Yui. I've just finished changing. Come in."

The door slid pen. Rei was a little surprised to see Yui in blue jeans and a T-shirt. Usually, if she happened to see her aunt at all this time of day, it was in her Nerv uniform. "Been home for a while?"

Yui nodded, and closed the door behind her. "I just heard you come in. I wanted to come home early and be with Shinji and you. I've been working too much lately, and not spending enough time with my children. Right now, Shinji needs me."

Rei nodded. "Yeah, he's taking it pretty badly."

Yui put a hand on Rei's shoulder. "I know you've had a hard time too."

Rei was about to concur, before realization struck her. Yui had found out about Tukagi. That was bad. Her aunt might do something that would endanger his job and it would all be Rei's fault. But of course, Yui might just be referring to the Angel attacks and the ordeal with Mr. Ryoji. The guessing game was over soon enough when Yui continued to speak. "I did some checking up as to why your security detail didn't keep track of you better on the night of the power outage. It seems one of the guards was swapping out with another agent. He felt his presence might be… uncomfortable for you. Then the power failed, and you and Shinji slipped out during the shuffling."

"It's not his fault! I was going after Mr. Ikita, but he never led me on or anything like that! I'm totally to blame. Don't do anything bad to him!"

Yui put her hands on Rei's shoulders, and drew her into a hug. "Relax, Rei. I for one agree with Agent Ikita's actions, though he should have sought reassignment after you kissed him, instead of waiting this long." Rei tensed, but Yui stroked her hair, and the girl relaxed. "I can be a little more forgiving now that you and Shinji are back, safe and sound."

Rei sniffled a little, and realized she was crying. She pulled back from Yui, and went to a tissue box that was half-empty, thanks to the recent events. She pulled a few out and wiped at her face. "I just… it hurt."

"I know it did, dear. But he was right: he's not someone you can date." Yui pulled Rei to the mirror with her. "You know what I see there. I see a beautiful girl, who is blossoming into a stunning woman. Men will fall over themselves to get your attention. You're smart, witty, and have a winning personality. I'm proud of who you are, Rei."

"I see a freak with pasty skin, weird hair, and red eyes. You know, I used to think I was the only person with red irises." Yui's warm motherly glow shifted then, and the look that was on her face went from encouraging to solemn. Rei turned around to face the woman. "I need to know the truth: do I have a twin sister or something like that? Who did Mr. Ryoji have with him that night?"

Yui sighed, and began walking to the door. "You're right, Rei. You deserve to know the facts. Give me just a moment. I'll be back." Yui left the room, and Rei felt a cold knot forming in her stomach. She had been hoping for her aunt to tell her she was wrong. She knew that would be a lie, but Rei could use a pleasant falsehood right about now. One disaster at a time would be manageable, but she was getting bombarded with them. She sat on the bed, and waited for Yui to return.

Her aunt came back with some sort of weird device in her hand. It had a black, square base, with several switches and LED lights that were dark. On top of the stand sat a silver sphere with dimples all around it. Yui placed it on the nightstand beside the bed, and flicked a button. Two of the red lights on the base came on.

"What's that?"

"A precaution. Shinji's dad taught me how to use something like this. It's handy when you need to talk about sensitive information."

Rei felt her anxiety grow, and her heart raced at an accelerated pace. "Is it that bad? Should I get Shinji?"

Yui considered this for a moment, but shook her head. "Shinji's not ready for this yet. I'll have to have this talk with him soon, but it can wait a little longer. But to keep putting you off isn't right."

"He could walk in on us anyway."

"It's not likely. I left him his books, and told him he needed to catch up on his studies. There is no surer way I know of keeping him away than that. He wants to avoid me anyway. I tried to pull him out of his funk today, but he's bound and determined to stay in a dark mood over Asuka. He won't be coming around us." Rei looked dubious. "Trust me, Rei: I know my son."

Rei nodded, and waited. Yui gathered her thoughts, before finally speaking. "The religious information I've let slip to you while I've raised you is a little unorthodox for a typical Japanese family. I've only allowed bits and pieces, basic ideas really, to filter to the two of you. I didn't want strange ideologies confusing either of you."

Rei nodded. "I didn't know it at first, but we've talked to other kids. They've never even heard of a lot of the things you told us."

"I needed for the two of you to have a proper context to work from. Most of the things I've told to you are off the beaten path, even by typical Western standards. Few people know about the Kabalistic tradition in any detail, or the apocrypha texts for the Torah. I didn't know about any of it myself until Gendo came into my life. He was the real expert on those things." Yui looked out Rei's window, but it was obvious that the woman wasn't seeing anything in her current field of vision. "I was up to my neck in the worst sort of conspiracy, and didn't even know it. Gendo opened my eyes to what was going on."

Yui seemed to come back, and checked the weird object with the LED lights to make sure it was still on. "I'm going to give you the long version, Rei. I'll tell you right now this is dangerous. Nerv has enemies and overseers, and some of the things I'm saying will rile them up. There is a danger that they can get information from you without you ever giving it yourself: but I'm getting ahead of myself. Do you still want to hear this? Can you promise not to repeat any of the things we talk about?"

Rei sat frozen for an instant. Finally, having a hard time summoning words to escape around the lump in her throat, she answered softly. "Tell me. I need to know. I'll keep my mouth shut."

Yui studied Rei for a moment, searching for something, and finally finding it. "Alright. You know that Kabalistic tradition is supposedly a sort of magic handed down to man from Yahweh. This was meant to show humans how to become one with God, and join him by unlocking certain mysteries and paths. According to the same tradition, the original man, Adam, was the source of all living things. He was a kind of hermaphroditic being, able to create life of his own self."

"I think we're drifting off the subject of whether there are people like me out there."

"Give me a moment to explain. I warned you we were taking the extended approach to that particular question. Anyways, Adam was not a hermaphrodite per say, but he was able to create living things of himself. According to tradition, there was one other person like Adam: Lillith. She was the first woman, crafted in the same way as he. The problem was that since they were created alike, she didn't want to be subservient to him. So she was kicked out of Eden. You'll find a lot of Western religion is unkind to women and the position they hold in the order of things."

Yui paused, looking to gauge Rei's reaction. Rei still looked anxious, which was an expression she had sported ever since they began talking, but now a bit of boredom was creeping into her face as well. "The other important thing to note is that there were two trees in the Garden of Eden with significant fruit: The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the Tree of Life. One allowed intelligence, and the other granted immortality. Adam and Eve were kicked out of Eden when they ate the Fruit of Knowledge, so that they wouldn't eat of the Tree of Life. This was so that they wouldn't become like God. He set an Angel to guard Eden with a fiery sword. This was the Archangel Michael."

"The next part of the story is fuzzy. There are only two written accounts of this tale that I know of, though I'm no expert. The story is obscure enough that it doesn't appear in Jewish apocrypha, which includes a variety of ambiguous texts. Lillith was said to have taken up with either Lucifer or Samiel. Whoever it was, it was a bad Angel, possibly the Devil. Adam was still around at this point, well past the death of his wife Eve. Both he and Lillith realized that they were the only beings of their kind, and even though there was some bad blood between the two, they were drawn to each other because of their similarities. The two hatched a plan, with subtle guidance from the Angel that had been spurned by God, to become gods themselves. Lillith and the Fallen Angel were propelled by a sense of vengeance against Yahweh, while Adam yearned to once again walk in Paradise. They would break into Eden, and Adam and Lillith would partake of the Fruit of the Tree of Life, while the Angel would eat of the Tree of Knowledge. Theoretically, the three should be elevated to becoming peers with Yahweh."

"The three were able to subdue the Angel guarding Eden, thanks in large part to the efforts of the Fallen Angel. Both Lillith and Adam made it to the Tree of Life, and managed to take a bite of its fruit. Here we have to take the word of one account, but it's all we have that matches with what we see of the Angelic War we're fighting. One would think that God would send his Angels down to stop them, and He did, after a manner. I mentioned that Adam and Lillith stand as potential sources of life. From Adam's flesh, fourteen Angels manifested, and chased off the Fallen Angel that had helped subdue Michael. From Lillith's flesh, humans began springing forth. One estimation was that Lillith produced a hundred children per day. In this way did God try to correct the actions of these two beings. By using Adam to create Angels, God attempted to rid him of the Fruit of the Tree of Life. And by producing men and women from Lillith, he attempted to purge her of the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Though this went a long way in crippling their power, neither one could be completely cleansed of these fruits, so they were locked away in various prisons. Adam was imprisoned under the polar cap, and Lillith was put away deep beneath the Earth, far east of Nod. This confrontation was what caused the First Impact."

Rei stared blankly at her aunt before finally raising her voice. "What has this got to do with anything? And so much of this is contradictory to the religious texts that you're drawing it from that I don't know why you bother. It's all rubbish."

"Patience, Rei. The texts that the Western religions use are surprisingly accurate books as far as transcription goes, and show little signs of having being doctored with over the centuries. But there are a lot of contradictory tomes out there, which is why they tend to be left out, and there are errors that may have occurred by those who initially wrote those books. If a person has two accounts of Humanity's ancestry, one of which derives from Adam, who is clearly stated in the existing religious texts as being the first man, and another that says humans come from Lillith, who is supposed to be the mother of all demons, then the script of Lillith gets thrown to the side. It doesn't occur to that scribe that both texts are accurate, and mankind comes from both sources. In fact, it is likely that most of humanity comes from Lillith, if this story is accurate."

Yui sighed. "I'm getting off the point. The people who oversee Nerv have in their possession certain prophecies. These divinations have proven to be incredibly precise. They predicted when Second Impact would occur, why it would occur, the coming of the Angels, who would turn these Angels aside, and the conditions that would take place for the Third Impact that followed the Angels' defeat. It uses a lot of metaphors, but everything is detailed in these writings, which contain even more predictions that have established themselves true over the years. It is not like a vague horoscope: these writings are accurate and specific, and are proving themselves reliable."

Yui noticed Rei's look of disdain, and she couldn't blame her. It was a lot to take on a leap of faith, and to her it must seem like Yui was avoiding her initial inquiry. She placed a hand on Rei's cheek, and turned it towards her. "You are mentioned in those prophecies." Yui paused a moment to let that sink in, before she started again. "I love you as my daughter, Rei. Do you doubt me?"

Rei shook her head, this last revelation having stunned her a bit. Yui continued. "My sister and brother-in-law, who died in Second Impact, never had a daughter. It was easy to pretend they did, what with all the chaos created by Second Impact. But I did, after a manner. Even though I didn't come to term with that infant, I supplied half of my genetic make-up to her. When I brought that girl into this world, I introduced her to others as my niece, so that there wouldn't be any suspicion over my lack of pregnancy."

"Are you telling me… that I was made in a lab?"

Yui frowned. "I'm telling you that you are unique and extraordinary. In the upcoming events, the child of a god-like being will play a special role. It is also noted that a Nephilim, a child of man and angel, will feature prominently in turning the Angels aside. This person is you, Rei: you are my child, but part of your chromosomes are also from the being we believe to be Lillith. She still retains the fruits of the Tree of Life, so in the most literal sense, Lillith is an Angel."

Rei chuckled then. "This is a little much, Aunt Yui."

Yui nodded, but kept her somber mood. Rei turned back to the mirror. "So I was right. I am a freak."

"No, Rei. You could be the salvation for the whole human race. Coming from Lillith doesn't make you any less human than ninety-nine percent of the population. Your lineage is just a little more direct."

Rei got up. "Let's say I even bother to credit this crazy story, which I don't, though I don't know why you would lie to me." Rei held up a hand as Yui began to interrupt. "Why are we fighting the Angels? Now that you've told me they are from God, doesn't this put us on the wrong side."

"I wish I knew what was going on with Jehovah, Rei. There is a belief that He is unchanging, but I don't accept that as true. He was a being that went from having direct discourse with the human race to a distant figure that may or may not be responsible for an occasional miracle. In olden days He apparently didn't mind interacting in a noticeable manner with the human race, making frogs rain from the sky, flooding the world, and parting seas, if all the old tales are to be believed. If those old accounts are true, God has been showing a tendency to let things go along without his direct intervention the last few millennia. It appears the only way that he is going to intervene now is with the Angels. This is the only response I've seen against the most serious threat humanity has ever faced. When Third Impact occurs, and I have no doubt it will, humanity may cease to exist. Depending on who gets to have the say-so, the human race will be offered up as an atonement for the original sin in the garden of Eden, or be used as components to create a being as powerful as God."

"That doesn't make a bit of sense."

"Man is supposed to be created in the likeness of God. This doesn't mean that God is made of bones and muscle, or that he has male reproductive organs, or suffers from male-pattern baldness. Each person has a soul, a divine spark. If you can assemble billions of those sparks into one being, there's an arguable case that it could be as powerful as the Supreme Being, or maybe even more potent. We cannot stop this by siding up with the Angels: our most accurate foretelling has already dictated that they will lose. The only way we can stop this is by becoming part of the process and controlling it to a conclusion that won't destroy the human race."

Rei looked back at Yui. "So we've been killing the good guys this whole time."

"Have you seen the Angels, Rei? They are not 'good guys'. Shinji, Kozo, you, and I: we are the good guys. We're just making the hard calls. These Angels are the fourteen that were taken from Adam. If they return to him, it could trigger Third Impact in the worst possibly way."

"So I was created in a lab: does that mean that you had other projects?" Rei let sarcasm and disdain drip from her voice. She stopped short as the full impact of what she was about to say hit her. In a quieter voice she asked, "Are there… clones of me?"

"No one is like you, Rei. You are yourself, just like any other person with a twin. But there are girls with your same genetic make-up."

Rei fell back onto her bed, her knees suddenly weak. "The dreams… that girl… it's all…" Rei began to cry.

Yui reached over to stroke the girl's hair, but Rei pulled away from her. "Why?"

"Because… we were trying to manipulate prophecy. We want to save everyone, Rei. Everyone. I didn't… I would never hurt you."

"Except to fight God's messengers?"

"Yes."

"I want them destroyed. And I don't mean the Angels."

Yui shook her head. "We can't, Rei. And it wouldn't be right for me to do that."

Rei looked over to her Beanie Baby collection, trying to gather her thoughts. "You know what's the worse thing: I shouldn't believe a word of this nonsense. But somehow, I know you're right. I know there are clones of me, and they have been trying to talk to me. And I would be just like them, except I won the petri dish lottery and came out first. What was that you've always said? I'm the light-sleeper of the bunch. That's funny, you know."

"Rei, stop it." Yui pulled Rei tight into an embrace, and the girl struggled against her. When that didn't work, Rei began to hit Yui, letting her fists slam into the woman's side and against her back.

Finally, Rei was racked with sobs, and screamed into Yui's shirt. This was followed with a repeated question. "Why? Why? Why, why, WHY?"

"I'm so sorry."

Rei eventually calmed herself, and pulled back. Her bloodshot eyes made a weird look as they blended into her red irises. The skin around her eyeballs was puffy, and she had to blow her nose again. "I think I need to be alone for a while."

Yui nodded. She leaned over and kissed Rei on the head. "I'm sorry that you have to go through this. I'm sorry for everything that is happening to you and Shinji. I wish I could take it away." Yui kissed her tresses again, and pulled back. "I love you, Rei. You are my daughter in every aspect, and I wouldn't have that any different. Don't ever think that you're not special, or that I don't love you." Rei didn't look at Yui, instead staring towards a wall in front of her, but she nodded her head. "I'm going to check on Shinji. Take all the time you need, but we need to talk again after you've had a chance to get your head around this."

Yui left, closing the door behind her, and went to Shinji's room. The boy was on the bed, in the exact pose that she had left him in.

**Scene Shift**

Asuka went to the door, pleased to see the blush that immediately sprung onto the take-out boy's features. "That'll be 2,500 yen." He barely managed to get the words out before Asuka handed him some bills and coins for that amount, and grabbed the bag of food from his hand. She stepped back and closed the door. She took a moment to look down at her outfit. It was a simple T-shirt and jogging shorts. Sometimes the basics were enough to make the boys drool, given the proper presentation.

"Mmm, that smells good." Misato came out of her room, the strong aroma of the take-out food summoning her.

"It was your turn to cook tonight, and since you've seemed to have forgotten, I decided to go ahead and call something in."

"Oh, heh heh, thanks." Misato cracked open a beer.

Asuka looked into the fridge over her guardian's shoulder. "You mind picking up some more sodas when you go out. If you don't, I'll have to start dipping into your Yebisus."

"I just don't think you'd be a nice drunk, Asuka. I'll try and remember to grab some, though you could buy groceries too, you know."

The dinner went on in silence for a while. As they neared the end of the food, conversation finally resumed. "So, said anything to Shinji yet?"

Asuka glowered at the table. "I'm not talking to that baka since he tried to get Kaji in trouble. Damn lying idiot. He's been out of school lately anyway."

Misato sighed, and got another beer. She cracked it open, and took a deep drink from it. "Shinji wasn't lying, Asuka."

Asuka's head snapped up at this. Then the redhead laughed. "You just want to be sure that we can still pilot together. Don't worry Misato: I can be professional. We just need him for back up anyway, right?"

"I saw video footage of Kaji sneaking into, and out of, Nerv. It was right before Shinji and Rei claimed to have been shot."

Asuka slammed both hands onto the table as she stood up. "That's not true. Kaji would have returned a call by now, or done something. He wouldn't have abandoned…" Asuka saw the look of sympathy on Misato's face, and growled. "This is all sheiss. You people have it wrong."

"I wish that were so, Asuka. More than anything, that's what I want. But it was Kaji. I saw it. He betrayed us… all of us. I know it stings. But you shouldn't take it out on Shinji for being the messenger."

"What the Hell do you know? Not a god damn thing, that's what. I'm going to my room."

Misato watched the German girl stomped angrily down the hall, and heard the noise of the bedroom door being slid into place with force. Misato looked down, and saw Pen-Pen staring up at her with a tilted head. He was eying her beer. "Oh no. I remember the last time we got you drunk. You made a mess."

"Wark."

"I don't care. Here, you can have the rest of these noodles." Misato placed a Styrofoam cup down with scraps of food in it, and the penguin flapped happily before bending down to eat.

**Scene Shift**

Ritsuko Akagi typed busily away at her desk. She felt a pair of arms engulf her, and a hand stoked the side of her face. "You look good, Ritsuko." A finger stroked beside her left eye. "Ah, a woman with a mole like a teardrop is destined for a lifetime of sorrows. Perhaps you need someone to lift your spirits?"

Ritsuko giggled. "Kaji, you never stop, do you?"

"Not until I've gotten what I'm after. A tendency that means I have my nose in all sorts of things." His breath was warm against her ear, and Ritsuko disguised the delightful shudder it sent through her by shrugging the man off.

"I wish I had time to play games with you, Kaji, but I am on a tight schedule. I really can't afford any distractions."

Kaji nodded, and sat backwards in a chair to the side of the room. "Anything you want to talk about?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "You think I don't know better than to give you information?"

Kaji shrugged. "Some might think it was suitable compensation for having me involved with recent events."

Ritsuko went back to typing on her keyboard, though she still carried on her conversation. "I didn't know they were going to kill anyone either, Kaji. I was just told that we were getting some materials for the project."

"I've no doubt made a lot of people at Nerv take the jump from anger to rage because of that little oversight."

Ritsuko hit the enter key twice, and then started on a new program. "I know you're angling to get a view of the monitor. Just slide back to where you were, Mr. Ryoji."

Kaji gave a crooked smile, and rolled his chair back from where he had been inching it up. "My father was Mr. Ryoji. But I applaud you: you're a wonderful multi-tasker."

"Flattery won't let you get away with everything, but it certainly does help me overlook some of your indiscretions. But yeah, I've been worried about some of the Nerv people myself. I didn't mind poaching in on their territory, but a murderous raid isn't what I wanted. It's hard to assert that we're in the right when we kill people in cold blood."

"And yet, that is just what we keep pretending to be."

"I don't know if we can close Pandora's Box again, Kaji. I just want someone beside it that has some inkling of the catastrophe that is occurring, and might have the good sense to slam the lid shut if the opportunity arises."

Kaji looked at a schematic on the wall. "Those things look really… different now."

"The project has gone through a serious overhaul. We had to pilfer government projects, some of my Eva and Magi knowledge, and the Angels themselves to make this work."

Kaji tapped his lip. "You know, when she finds out she'd just as soon shoot either of us as speak to us. The depth of treachery will just be too much to smooth over with an apology."

Ritsuko frowned into the cup of coffee she was drinking, finding the bottom of the glass suddenly bitter. "I hope you're wrong, Kaji. But there is a distinct possibility that Misato will want our heads after this."

Ritsuko broke from the melancholy line of thought and brought up two feeds onto her monitor. The first showed a series of biorhythms, with waves dancing at a steady pace across the screen in various colors. The second showed a pale girl with blue hair, sitting on the side of a bed, and staring vacantly towards a wall.

Whatever betrayal Ritsuko might have felt guilty about, it was swallowed up by that image. What in the Hell had Nerv been doing? If the girl's samples were right, then they had tried to create a monster of the highest order. There was a possibility that the docile teen was more dangerous than either the Eva units or the Angels.

Nerv was playing it too loose and too sloppy. They had to be stopped.

**Scene Shift**

Makoto was flipping through his latest monthly manga. It was something to do while he was waiting for the Magi to perform their standard diagnostics. Dr. Akagi had instructed the staff to take special care during certain stages of the system self-check, but for the next forty-five minutes, it was just routine scrubbing of bag-logged data. A telephone call at his desk brought him out of his reading. He picked up the receiver, and suddenly snapped to attention. Aoba, who had been working over some new musical routine in his mind, sat up a little straighter as well. Makoto didn't get that look unless there was about to be a battle.

Makoto hung up the phone, and immediately redialed the Commander's office. "Sir, an Angel has just been spotted over the Indian Ocean." There was a response from the other line, and then he hung up the phone. Makoto turned to Aoba. "Call in the pilots, all members of the Tactical Division, the head of E-Project, and the Sub-Commander. We have confirmation of an Angel."

Kozo was on the bridge a few minutes later. He waited another fifteen minutes, which allowed Yui, and then Misato, the time they needed to arrive. He allowed Misato the chance to catch up on the present situation.

"What have we got?"

Makoto turned to Misato. "Here are images from satellites that were shifted into position to monitor the Angel."

A picture blinked onto the screen. Several gasps of astonishment sounded across the bridge as more than one person checked the scale of the images. Someone summed it all up when she muttered, "It's enormous."

The Angel hovered, its orange body covered with the same weird sort of eyes that the previous Angel had sported. It was divided into three parts, with a large circular middle that had a circular glob to either side of it. As they watched, the transmission turned into static. Before the signal had been lost, the crumbling image of the satellites could be seen in their partner's pictures.

"The satellites have been destroyed."

"Interesting. The Angels have discovered a new way to use their A.T. Fields."

Misato turned to Kozo and Yui, who were up on the main command dais. "I have Asuka gearing up, and Shinji and Rei have reported in. They should be prepared to pilot Eva soon as well. I can delay that, depending on when we estimate this Angel will make it here."

"How long do we have?"

Makoto turned to them with a stunned look on his face. "I can't tell. It doesn't act like it's going here."

"What appears to be its destination?"

"Unknown, sir. It's heading hard to the east, and slightly to the north. It appears to be plotting a path that is just north of what used to be the Philippines. I don't think it will hit anything but a few small islands for some time along that course. There are only sporadic, minor islands along that path for the entirety of the Pacific Ocean. I can't extrapolate an accurate timetable if it turns suddenly north towards this instillation. It depends on when the Angel changes speed and at what altitude. No less than an hour at the current rate and assuming a turn onto a straight course for headquarters."

Kozo suddenly stood, an expression of anxiety overcoming his features. "Stay on Yellow Alert. The pilots should be ready for battle within the hour. You have that long to analyze the Angel and create a suitable strategy to defeat it. That will be all for now." He turned, and began walking purposely to the door.

Yui was quickly by his side. She waited for them to be out of earshot of the rest of the bridge, before asking in an insistent whisper. "What is it, Kozo?"

"I need a line to the Second Branch."

Yui missed a step, but quickly recovered. "You think it's going to cross the ocean."

Kozo nodded. "It's going to North America. It senses Adam."

**Author's Notes:**

First off, thanks for the reviews. It means a lot to me to hear from people who have read the story, and see what I'm doing right and wrong. Much appreciated.

Also, sorry if the updates are lagging a bit. Truth be told, I was just posting these chapters too quickly for a little while, and it was starting to become a chore. I seem to be comfortable with updating once or twice a month, and that's something I'll probably stick with till the story is complete (I hope.)

I also had some real life hectic-ness. Nothing bad, but it was enough to cut into writing, which, though I like doing it, is fairly low on my things-that-must-be-done list.

Comments and criticisms: Gimme!


	20. Scenario no Yui Chapter 20

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Eva and the other such. Should the powers that be decide I need to take this down, I will, and console myself with the fact that they read this fic

Proofreader credit goes to Cyber Undead. All hail Cyber Undead!

Also, Big D provided tremendous plot advice, while under an already massive workload. Praise be unto he as well.

**Chapter 20**

Maya walked hurriedly to her workstation, and tapped busily on her keyboard. Within a few minutes, her pace had slowed slightly. Finally satisfied with whatever task she had been performing, she made her way over to Makoto and Aoba. The two were huddled together and discussing something in quiet conversation.

"Hey." Both men greeted her back. "I've got a few minutes while I wait for a program to run. I've been wrapped up with aborting the Magi's self-diagnostic. What's going on now?"

"Well, as best as I can tell, they plan on catching the Angel." Aoba smirked as Makoto said this.

"They… what?"

Makoto pulled up several photos of various impact sites. The first two showed water with waves circling out from a central point, while the last showed a crater in the Earth. "The Angel has been hurling chunks of itself at the ground. We think it's learning to aim. That would explain its weird approach vector. The theory is that the Angel is going to Kamikaze into headquarters."

Maya looked from the computer screen to her fellow techs. "So the Evas are going to… hold it?"

"It's really the only thing they can do. Conventional weapons won't scratch the Angel at high altitude: its A.T. Field will stop most of that. By using the Eva's A.T. Field to catch the Angel, it ensures that a concussive blast from the Angel is deflected from the ground, should it detonate prematurely."

Maya nodded absently, her mind racing. "But if the Angel doesn't detonate, it can just wait for the Eva's A.T. Field to collapse, relying on its own weight to strain the pilots."

"One Eva will use a progressive knife to cut through the projected field near the Angel's center, while another will stab through the rend to pierce the core."

Maya shook her head. "An A.T. Field is not a piece of fabric. You can't just cut through one section. It'll cause an anomaly that'll make the whole surface area dissipate. The only way that I can think of making a hole in an A.T. Field without destroying it is for an Eva to visualize the phase space of another Eva's field, like Unit-01 did with the Third Angel. Perhaps at that level of synchronicity one Eva could manipulate another's field to create a breach, but I wouldn't count on it."

Makoto checked his monitor again, before turning his attention back to his coworkers. "The Major seemed to think it would work."

Aoba piped in now. "I think you should talk to Dr. Akagi. The A.T. Field is something we don't know much about. Dr. Akagi and you are our experts. Make sure that we're not going forward with a flawed plan."

Maya nodded, and went back to her desk. She scooped up a laptop and clipboard, and left the bridge. Aoba looked over Makoto's shoulder at the monitor. "It still hasn't turned towards us."

"No. But it seems to be done with teaching itself to aim. It won't be long before it changes course."

**Scene Shift**

Shinji sat beside his cousin in silence. Asuka had left earlier, not caring for the tension in the room, and making an excuse about getting something to eat.

Shinji had picked up on the fact that something was wrong with Rei as soon as they got in the car. It was ironic that the thing that brought him out of his depression was the fact that Rei had stopped trying to lift him out of his. He had become concerned for her. She looked like she had been crying, and only met his eyes once. Shinji couldn't remember ever seeing the girl sadder than she had been then. The two hadn't talked on the way to the changing rooms, and had only the barest suggestion of a conversation since.

Shinji tried again. "Hey, Rei, is something up? You seem like you have some heavy thoughts."

"Yeah. Don't worry about it. We've got an Angel to slay."

That was weird. He didn't think he had heard Rei use the word 'slay' before.

So what was on Rei's mind? Shinji went down the list. Something might have happened with Mr. Ikita. He might have gotten disciplinary action for not immediately reporting an inappropriate relationship with his charge. Or Rei might have found something out about Mr. Ryoji. That didn't seem likely, as Shinji felt he would have been told as well. For all Shinji knew, Rei might have started her period.

Best not to think about that. Besides, the first idea felt right to him. Shinji got up, and walked to where his cousin was sitting on the bench. He kneeled down, making sure Rei and he were face to face.

"I appreciate what you've tried to do for me the last few days. Sorry if I've been difficult."

Rei smiled a little. "You've been a baby, you know."

"Yeah, well, right back at you. Tell me what's bothering you."

Shinji was surprised when Rei leaned in to him and hugged him. He reached a hand up to pat her back, and let her stay like that for a moment. Finally, Rei spoke. "Not right now. I don't even know what all I think is wrong. I'm confused. I don't feel like myself anymore."

"After the battle, I'll get you some ice cream. Sound good?"

"After the battle? Were you there at the same briefing I went to?" Rei pulled back, a little bit of her old spark back in her eyes. "Okay. We'll get ice cream following the fight." Rei smiled, but it was a forced and tired-looking thing. She let herself sink back into whatever dark place she had been in, and Shinji returned to his seat.

**Scene Shift**

Ritsuko Akagi stood before a familiar monolith.

A voice boomed from the dark, rectangular object. "And you propose we do it now? Are you ready so soon?"

"Besides the components you delivered, the project was already completed. All that we needed for an activation experiment is a downloaded core. We can assemble the rest later."

Though there was no change in the visualization of Seele-01, Ritsuko could almost sense an intimidating loom from the object. "Why is this venture being rushed?"

"There is a rumor that the current Angel is not attacking Nerv. This means that their attention will be focused elsewhere. It is possible that they might detect an activation if they are astute. This represents the best time to try and slip one by them."

"You do not feel the background radiation from Tokyo will be sufficient for covering the test."

"No, sir. Nerv has had some time and practice to become proficient in sensing wave patterns. If we produce a wave pattern orange, and current projections show we will, then they'll be on us quick."

"Very well. Proceed, Dr. Akagi. Do not disappoint me."

**Scene Shift**

Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki was on the phone with the head of the Second Branch, Kelvin Wisdom.

"Our intelligence indicates that the Angel hasn't changed course."

Kozo wanted to smirk at the American's words, but he kept his face serious. In all likelihood, that intelligence was largely based on the various news channels that were relentlessly tracking the Angel's progress. Of course Nerv was tracking the Angel as well, but Kozo had tuned into a few of the networks to see the public's reaction. In North America, it wasn't pretty, as some had already speculated the Angel might try and cross the Pacific Ocean. For all Kozo knew, that information had been leaked from the Second Branch's offices. They didn't play their cards very close to the vest in that country.

"I believe my gut instinct will prove correct. It will wish to go back to Adam."

"Pilot Aida just had a successful activation three days ago. He is still green. He's not ready to fight an Angel."

"It would seem your country might welcome it with open arms anyway."

"A predicament I blame on the P.R. Representatives under your direction. It was the height of stupidity to identify these invaders as Angels. I know you Japanese don't get it, but it would be like us calling these monsters 'Sugar Plum Fairies from Buddha.' Of course the religious people are in an uproar. Half of them are angry with us for naming them Angels, and the rest want to join on the side of the invaders because of that name. And don't get me started on the Nerv logo. The Gallop Poll hasn't had this much activity since the last election."

Kozo took a moment to absorb the rebuke. "I agree. It was an unwise label. But we must deal with the situation as it is. Will this problem prove a difficulty from an operational standpoint?"

"It's hard to say. The Angel is going to pass over California if it does come here, and it's possible that there will be riots in urban areas. Also, the U.S. government is going to be under tremendous pressure, and may attempt to step in and usurp authority. They've respected the U.N. charter thus far, but then again, the U.S. hasn't really been put to the test concerning their loyalties."

"I assume this has added some feeling of urgency concerning Adam's transfer. Your compatriots were not showing much enthusiasm for letting him go before."

"Don't worry, they'll be more agreeable now." There was a slight pause before Commander Wisdom continued. "So, what course of action would you suggest? I have one inexperienced pilot and a state of affairs that may soon get out of hand. Any advice?"

"I have my tactical division brainstorming the situation. And I think I have an idea to attain help for the Fourth Children."

**Scene Shift**

"No." Yui crossed her arms and stared at Kozo across his desk. "Now is not a good time to try this."

Kozo frowned. He did not need another fight. He had summoned Yui to tell her his plan after he had cut communications with the Second Branch. She was proving to be as agreeable as he had expected. "It's the only way. If we don't, it'll result in a loss of a sizable chunk of Nevada, and the probable destruction of the American West Coast due to the destabilization of the San Andreas Fault."

"Rei is not ready for this now. The Americans don't have her core data anyway."

Kozo brought up a schematic of Eva Unit-04. It was similar in design to Eva Unit-03, except where the latter sported a black paint scheme, this android was instead coated with a golden finish. "Actually, they have. It is why I suggested Rei. Unit-04 has been set to accept signals from the dummy plug. It'll be conformed to the specs we sent them three weeks ago."

"I told her the truth, Kozo. She hasn't had enough time to process it yet. She's in a bad place mentally, and sending her in may be tantamount to killing her. Plus, the data for the dummy plug hasn't been tweaked to decrease Rei's synch ratio. She'll synchronize too well. You know how responsive she is to the Eva. It might kill her if the Unit takes damage."

"Between 2 million and 18 million. 43 million, depending on the geographical fallout."

Yui stared at Kozo blankly, before understanding hit her. "It's not…"

"And that doesn't include the millions of people that the last census did not successfully tabulate. We are not Seele. I will not sacrifice the lives of the general population for personal whimsy. And when we don't send Rei to them, despite all the other reasons we might give, that is what it is."

Yui got up, and walked to the door. She stopped before exiting. "Fine. We'll send Rei to her death, so that we can say we tried."

**Scene Shift**

Rei watched as another person came into the meeting room. Something was suspicious about this whole arrangement. Major Katsuragi, Yui, Commander Fuyutsuki, Dr. Akagi, and several bridge techs were here, but that was it. The other pilots should be in on the briefing as well, but Shinji and Asuka were nowhere to be found. When she had been summoned, Shinji, who was with her at the time, had been told that his presence wasn't required for the meeting.

Perhaps this had to do with what she had recently discovered about her origins. Was every person in this room party to her creation? That was a disturbing thought, but there was logic to it. After all, it probably took a team of people to synthesize life. Rei suppressed the urge for a melodramatic laugh. Synthesized life: that's what she was. She wasn't really a person, just a facsimile of one. They had done a good job though: she laughed, cried, developed unrequited crushes, and indulged in angst well above the standard quota for people in her age group. Rei Ikari was a real piece of work.

And when had that last bit happened? Rei couldn't think of a time she had thought of herself in the Third Person. Then again, she didn't know she was a carbon copy before.

Commander Fuyutsuki finally spoke up. "Thank you for coming. I would like to inform you that it is our belief that the current angel is going to attack the U.S."

Stunned silence greeted this pronouncement. Kozo continued. "To this effect, we will be sending the Second Children, Pilot Rei Ikari, to man Unit-04. The current timetable does not allow the transfer of our Eva Units to assist the Americans, but we can staff up the equipment on site. Since we only need concern ourselves with the transportation of human personnel, we can make use of a hypersonic aircraft in a low-altitude earth orbit. If the Angel maintains its current pace, this will give over four hours between the arrival of the Second Children and the sortie with the Angel, assuming it behaves according to our projections."

Misato raised her hand. Kozo indicated for her to speak. "What additional personnel will you be sending with Rei?"

"None. This is a dangerous situation. Non-essential personnel should not be on site."

"I recognize the wisdom of your decision. However, I would like to point out the ineptitude that the Americans displayed during our confrontation with the Sixth Angel. It is only because Asuka was assertive and seized the initiative that we were able to win that battle. The Americans ignored all suggestions, not to mention common sense, provided during that attack. I do not trust them to behave any better over a satellite feed."

Naoko spoke up now as well. "This angel has displayed the ability to destroy satellites at will. It could use that capacity to hamper our combat effectiveness at a crucial interval. And there will be considerable time lag."

"I do not plan on this staff directly overseeing the operation. The time lag has already been factored in, and battle decisions must be made with tremendous speed. The plan we had drawn up for confronting the Angel here was dependent on the pilot's discretion during crucial junctures, with the Tactical Division merely directing the Evas into approximately the correct area. There's no reason to believe that would change. Also, I trust the American staff to act in a manner that will ensure the mission's success, especially since it is in their own best interests to do so. This won't be some incident in international waters where egos can be brandished to determine the pecking order. They will be defending their homes, and I expect them to fight with the same vigor that we would."

Misato stood again. "I humbly request permission to accompany Pilot Rei Ikari to America."

"Denied. That is my final decision on the subject. I want the Tactical Division to get in contact with the Second Branch and discuss strategies. I also want the Project-E Chairperson to go over the data for Unit-04 and ensure that things are in order. Pilot Rei Ikari will be escorted immediately by Section Two to her plane." Kozo looked to Rei, who had a dark look on her face. She merely nodded an affirmative. "Dismissed."

Yui and Misato both fell in with Rei as they left. None of that bunch seemed particularly happy with Kozo now. He didn't blame them. He looked and saw that Naoko was still in the room. The two waited while the techs filed out, before the Commander closed the door and turned back to Dr. Akagi. The woman spoke up. "What if they won't give her back?"

"You think the Americans would abduct Rei? Perhaps that sort of thing might happen as a CIA black ops mission, but not among the general military branch. Besides, this whole situation is too high profile. Every news agency will be breathing down their necks."

"This is it. This is where we lose control of it all. It will become known that the pilots are children. And it won't escape their notice that only Japanese kids are capable of controlling the Eva. That's not what worries me though. This is the attack that will cause all the countries to become greedy with their part of the Eva program. They'll believe the invaders will strike at any one of them now. In light of that, I believe the abduction of Rei Ikari is a serious threat. There are ways of dealing with public observation. For instance, they could fake Rei's death and then keep her secretly. Who knows what those fools might do if they had Rei?"

The possibility made Kozo's blood run cold as well. There was a copy of the lance out there, apparently strong enough for the purpose of instituting Third Impact. Add to that the fact that Rei was a facsimile, at least in part, of Lillith, and that the Americans still had control of Adam, and one had a volatile mix.

Naoko continued, oblivious to the full depth of dread that was going through the Commander. "We've been relying heavily on undeveloped units for repairs and replacements. That well is going to dry up now."

"I know. It can't be helped. We cannot control the Angel."

"I haven't told you the worse part. We're not sure we can use the A.T. Field in the manner that the original plan called for. And we certainly need to modify how we were going to attack the Angel now that there are two Eva units instead of three."

"Hmm. Talk to Major Katsuragi and let her know your misgivings. Do you have any alternative ideas?"

"We could stop the Angel before it makes it across the ocean."

Kozo came alive. The possibility of good news was enough to revitalize him. "How?"

"We could shoot the Angel with a nuclear warhead."

"An N2 mine is insufficient…"

"A 'nuclear' warhead."

"Absolutely not."

"Why? The target is far enough above ground that the only immediate effects will be an EMP."

"And the effects that aren't immediate? The high levels of radiation…"

"It'll be better than risking a break in the fault line. They can wear sunscreen and radiation suits, and keep the state of California. It's a better alternative."

"You are one of the few Japanese citizens that would say that, you know."

Naoko crossed her arms. "It doesn't make it any less true."

"I don't like it, but you may be right: it could be our only way out of this mess. I'll contact the Second Branch and let them know. There are still several warheads lying around the U.S. Something with sufficient power will be in their arsenal. If we remove the payload limit caused by the N2 mine and instead go to the higher output of a nuclear device, it may destroy the Angel."

"You're welcome." Naoko got up now, and smoothed her skirt. "I'm going to carry out my orders now, in case it becomes necessary." Naoko stopped, closer to Kozo, and continued talking. "Also, before the aircraft departs, we should update the aircraft's pilot on a possible alternative course." She patted Kozo on the side of the face as she spoke. "I don't think it would be a good idea to have it flying through the area of effect for an electro-magnetic pulse."

"Erm… yes."

With that Naoko took her leave.

**Scene Shift**

Rei thought briefly of the walk she had with Yui to the plane. The woman had verbally prodded her, trying to get her to talk about the other night, about how she felt, about her concerns for going to America. Rei's answers had been short and to the point. When Yui had finally hugged Rei at the boarding ramp, Rei had hung stiffly in her arms, not returning any affection. Yui's last look at the girl had been filled with deep concern.

It was best not to reflect on that. Rei tried to sleep again. It wasn't that the ride was uncomfortable. Considering that the aircraft she was in traveled at supersonic speeds, the cabin was surprisingly quiet. But the same thought kept nagging at her.

They had sent her, and only her. And Rei could only think of one reason. She could be replaced. There were little Rei Ikaris sitting on the backburner waiting to shuffle into her position.

Would some clone of her be the same? Would it have little sarcastic jests with Shinji? Would Aunt Yui, wait, Mommy Yui, give it the same heart-to-heart talk about how special it was, and it was nothing like the other Rei that got sent out and destroyed? What if the stupid little imposter ended up buddies with Asuka?

No doubt Yui had already figured out a way of making a smooth transition. No one would probably notice that Rei had been switched with a fake. It would be like some weird Sci-fi movie where aliens or robots or something would take over people's personas, and it would go well until a protagonist just happened to notice that things were off. They might be too perfect or forget some cherished memory that they should know, but something just wouldn't be right. But the only person she was truly close to was Shinji and Yui. If Shinji noticed something wasn't as it should be, his mother could explain it away.

She could imagine it now. Shinji would say, "Rei doesn't remember the time she convinced me to eat six cockroaches on my birthday."

And Yui would reply, "Oh Shinji, be more understanding. You know Rei forgets things since that Angel she tried to catch bonked her on the head."

Better yet, why not add a soap opera tangent to it. "Poor Rei has retrograde amnesia. She'll remember bits and pieces of things (from the job orientation the clone received when she was promoted to living Rei's life, of course) but some of it might never come back.

The whole thing was disgusting. Rei could feel it corroding any sense of self-worth she might have.

Rei toyed with the idea of just running away. She knew this attack was doomed to failure. The original plan had seemed a long shot with three Evas. Now all she would have was Kensuke and an unknown Unit-04. She was screwed, and the U.S. was screwed along with her. She didn't see any sense in going down swinging.

She didn't doubt she would have an armed escort for her protection, and they would stop her if she made a break for it. But when she was in the Eva, she could take off instead of catching the Angel. Who would be able to halt her then? The Military? Kensuke? That was a laugh on both counts. Still, that presented its own problems. The support staff could eject the plug remotely before she made it far, not to mention cut the Eva's power. Even if she did manage to run away, how far could she make it? She was an easy person to identify, and couldn't speak English well.

She would wait and see. If there were a chance the plan could succeed, she would stay and fight. But if they were doomed to failure, she would try to run away. Even if it didn't succeed, she might at least get to live that way.

**Scene Shift**

The break room was normally a place barren of human life. The closest it came to filling up was when a team of techs would go in together, usually because they had nothing else to do until another team caught up on the workload. Otherwise, there might be four or five people in the room at most.

Today was different. This was the first time that Nerv had an Angelic threat and nothing to do. The Sixth Angel might have been similar to this, but it had attacked the Pacific Fleet so suddenly that Nerv had barely gotten notice that a fight was occurring before it was over. So now, the small television in the break room followed the Angel's progress across the ocean, and more than fifty people were in the small area to watch it. There was an occasional cry from someone for the group in general to be quiet, and more than one person had to stand because of the lack of chairs.

Shinji could have done without it. He had some time to contemplate that he was finally experiencing what these men and women went through every battle. He felt totally useless. All he could do was watch and wait, and see if there would be any need for him post-op. He would have given his right arm to be going to America with Rei. He did not like the idea of her having to do this with just Kensuke's help. He had even mentioned his concerns to his superiors, one at a time. Naoko had just ruffled his hair and told him he was a sweet boy. Misato had started complaining about how she wasn't going either. He had asked his mother, although he knew (correctly) that he would have no luck there. He had toyed with the idea of confronting Commander Fuyutsuki on the matter, but realized if Misato wanted to go and couldn't, it was because the Commander was barring her. There was no reason to believe that his situation would be any different.

He looked up as something from the doorway caught his eye. Asuka stood there, and as his eyes met hers, she quickly turned her attention to the television set. He watched her a moment longer. She looked at him briefly again, trying to pretend that she was surveying the room instead of watching him. When she did it a third time, she finally backed away from the door and left.

Shinji got up. There really wasn't anything of interest occurring on the Angel coverage. He made his way to the door, and people shuffled aside for him. He noted with some satisfaction that one person had moved to get his seat, and had immediately received a chewing out from several others in the room for trying to take the pilot's chair. He left, and found that Asuka was just making a turn down the hallway.

He walked after her at a quick pace. It didn't take long for him to catch up to her. When he was within six meters of her, the German girl spun around.

"Why are you following me?"

Shinji waited for a moment, hoping that something brilliant to pop into his head. Nothing did. "I don't know." Shinji turned around, and began to move towards the break room.

"Wait." Shinji paused, but didn't turn back around. "I… I shouldn't have… I didn't make it to the supper you invited me to last weekend. I didn't think it would be appropriate."

Shinji waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it. It's customary when a person slaps a guy in front of his immediate family while he's in the hospital recovering from being shot to skip the first meal with them." Shinji began to walk away.

"So, that's it?"

Shinji tried to keep on walking, but couldn't. He spun angrily around at the girl, and stalked closer to her. "What? Do you want me to jump through some hoops? You have an episode like that and it doesn't even occur to you to apologize. It wasn't my fault that I got shot by someone you liked, but it sure helped me figure out where I stand with you. Do you know how embarrassing that was? How much it hurt? And it didn't mean anything to you. I thought maybe you had some human decency in you, that you could regret what you did a little, but you can't even say that you're sorry. Go find another dog to kick."

Asuka grabbed at Shinji's arm as he turned away again. "Don't. We need to talk."

"I think I've said about all I want to say."

The German kept a firm grip on the boys forearm as he tried to leave. She carried on as if she hadn't heard the boy's last comment. "Let's go to the changing room. I don't want everyone listening in."

Shinji stood in place for a moment, fighting within himself between feelings of righteous indignation and his affection for the girl. Grudgingly, he finally said "Fine."

Asuka led him to the locker room, which was thankfully only a short distance away. As they approached the bench, Asuka pushed down lightly on Shinji's shoulders. He sat, and she stood in front of him with her arms crossed. She studied him for a moment.

"What is it?" He was beginning to get annoyed with this whole situation.

"Tell me about that night."

"What?"

"The night you think Kaji shot you, dumpkoff. I want you to tell me about it. Leave in all the details."

"You already know the important facts. He kidnapped someone and shot Rei and me with drugged darts for catching him."

Asuka tapped her foot impatiently. She was not a person prone to standing in one position for long, and as she spoke she began pacing around. "I know you believe those are the facts, but I think you've made a mistake somewhere. Everyone has. I need to find out what it is."

"You think I don't know who shot me!"

"You barely knew the man. Rei had seen him a little, but she could have been mistaken as well. I remember you not being sure that it was Kaji and looking to her to confirm his identity."

"I'm leaving."

Asuka turned and laid a hand on Shinji's chest. "Baka, stay!" She pulled her hand back quickly, realizing that she had been a bit more forceful in her command than she should have. "Shinji, I need for you to talk to me. About this."

Shinji nodded, and recounted the story. He glossed over some of the particulars with Rei, especially her rejection by the bodyguard and her dreams of clones. Instead he covered by saying that the two were making their way to Nerv that night during the power outage in case there was an emergency. Asuka put him on his toes by asking why they hadn't sought transportation from Section Two. Shinji said that the two hadn't been able to find their escort. Asuka didn't like how that felt, but didn't say anything. He told the rest of events as they had happened, only becoming vague when it concerned the person Mr. Ryoji had taken with him. Not that such a thing was difficult to do: he had never gotten a clear look at the hooded figure.

"That's one thing I don't like about this whole account. Supposedly, Kaji kidnapped someone. But nobody has been reported as missing. Unless the entire command staff is trying to cover up an abduction, then you guys are wrong about this whole situation."

"I'm not wrong about him firing on us."

"If, and I stress if, it was Kaji. I'm still not convinced."

Asuka sat down beside Shinji now, not looking at him. "I thought you were wrong to accuse Kaji. I still do. But I believe that you think you're telling the truth, about that anyway. When I slapped you… well… I… regret it."

Shinji raised an eyebrow and gave Asuka a sidelong glance. "And?"

Asuka grimaced, and suppressed the urge to grind her teeth together. "I'm… dammit."

Shinji began to get up, and Asuka screamed out. "I'm sorry!"

"Why is that so hard for you?"

"I don't do apologies, Shinji. It's not an easy thing for me. Especially since I don't think I'm wrong here."

"I guess that'll make what I'm about to ask really tough then. If you want us to talk outside of work, then you have to apologize in front of my mother and Rei."

"Oh, Hell no! Stupid baka, what makes you think…"

"You were the first girl I ever thought about bringing home to meet my family, Asuka. I've been your advocate in that household, telling mom something good about you every time Rei said something negative."

Asuka was back on her feet. "What has that girl…"

"Nothing worse than what you probably say about her to Misato or Hikari." The force of Shinji's interruption gave the girl pause, and she contemplated his words.

"Fair enough."

"I don't want mom to know you as the girl who attacked me while I was laid up in the infirmary. Show her something else."

Asuka was silent for a moment. As the pause stretched out, Shinji rose to his feet and made his way to the door.

"Wait. I'll…" Shinji held his hand centimeters from the hydraulic activator for the door. He waited as Asuka struggled through the reply. "I'll… try."

The only response was a whoosh of displaced air as the door opened, and then closed behind him. Asuka uttered some unsavory words in German at the shut portal.

**Scene Shift**

Rei blinked her eyes against the morning brightness. The jet had been flying through time zones on its way to Nevada, and as a consequence, she had made her way through an entire night in much less time that it should have required. She squinted a moment, adjusting to the light as she walked down to the pavement of the runway. Her first sight of America was a sandy-haired boy with freckles beaming happily at her.

"Good morning, Second Child!"

Rei nodded. She took in the other gentlemen. Two were large men in green uniforms, while the third sported an outfit that she instantly recognized as Nerv ceremonial dress. She bowed to this man. In bad English, she said "Pilot Rei Ikari, reporting for duty, sir."

The man saluted her, and she returned it. "Captain Benjamin Masterson, at your disposal. I will allow you and Pilot Aida a bit of free time to make your way to the ready room. He'll help instruct you on the procedures for this base. You are to report for briefing at 0900 hours."

Rei saluted again, not sure exactly what all the man had said, but getting the gist of it. She had till 9 A.M. The Captain left, but the two large military men stayed.

Rei looked around the base, taking in the various women, and especially men. She switched back to Japanese and spoke to Kensuke. "These foreigners are huge."

"You haven't seen the more extreme cases. So far I've seen three Americans over 210 centimeters tall. It's a land of giants."

Rei studied Kensuke a moment, and had a sudden realization. "You're not wearing your glasses."

Kensuke nodded proudly. "They were causing problems with my ability to pilot. So the military secured a pair of organic contact lenses for me. I was actually going to undergo laser surgery to correct my vision, but then this Angel began heading for us."

"Do they work? The contacts, I mean."

"They get a little irritating at the end of the day, but they are the only thing that we've found that won't mess up in the LCL. So, I take it you made it around the nuclear blast okay."

Kensuke and Rei had been walking as they talked, but Rei immediately stopped in her tracks. "What?"

"Partway over the Pacific Ocean, a thermonuclear warhead detonated on the Angel. The EMP pulse fried electronics for over fifty miles from the blast, though there wasn't much in that area to be affected. A news aircraft that got too close was knocked offline and crashed into the ocean. You didn't know?"

"No. I wasn't told anything."

Kensuke was quiet for a minute, before he waved his arm to their surroundings. "So, what do you think? Kind of blasé for Area 51, but it's still pretty neat to be stationed here."

"I've heard that before." Rei racked her brain for a moment. "Something about Aliens… whoa! I didn't put that together until now. It was such a myth I guess I dismissed any chance of it being true."

There were several large buildings, what Rei had at first taken to be hangers, and multiple runways. The immediate surroundings were huge, but sparse. Almost sensing what she was thinking, Kensuke chimed in. "Most of the base is underground. I had quite a bit of it on my web page before it was taken down. The Americans took away my PC and won't let me mess with a computer terminal unsupervised now."

"Sounds like they're pretty smart."

Kensuke made a frustrated sound. Rei noticed their escorts were smiling broadly at this. "I've never had access to this type of information before. I've dreamed of having this sort of stuff to put on my home page. And zip, nada, nothing can go up." Kensuke looked over to see Rei was starting to look off again in boredom. "But if that's all I have to whine about, I suppose life is good. So, how's everyone back in Tokyo-3? How have you been? What about Shinji and Touji?"

"Shinji had a fight with Asuka, and has been depressed. I believe Touji is currently dating Hikari Hiroki."

"He's what? He didn't say anything about that in his letter. Still, it's funny. Shinji and Touji are two of kind, going after the domineering types."

"Yes, I suppose that's so." Rei's reply was tinged with her disapproval.

Kensuke studied Rei a moment. "Things aren't alright for you, are they? I can tell something is wrong."

Rei wanted to laugh. It might be funny to tell the little geek the truth. 'Oh you know, I found out I was part of a contingent of clones mentioned in millennia old prophecies. I'm not entirely human by the way. And to top it off, I'm apparently as disposable as a paper plate.' Instead, she merely nodded. Thinking to catch the boy off guard and change the subject, she said. "Shinji told me that you said I was cute."

Kensuke started choking and almost fell down. He got up, with one hand behind his head, and laughed nervously. "Well, umm… that Shinji, what a guy, eh?"

Rei looked over at the soldiers. One was jabbing the other with his elbow, and both were sharing a smile. Rei looked at them. "You can understand Japanese?"

"Yes." The darker one held his hand up with about three centimeters between his thumb and forefinger, showing he could only speak a little.

Rei turned back to Kensuke. "Nice of you to mention that."

"It's alright. They're my friends. The soldiers like me around here." Kensuke grinned at the escorts.

The lighter of the two men moved towards Kensuke, and pat him on the shoulder. "Mighty Runt."

Rei smiled. "That's what they call you?"

Kensuke nodded. "Sometimes. I happen to like it. It's arrogant and self-deprecating, all in the same breathe." Kensuke began walking them towards one of the hangers. "I bet you're hungry."

"Not particularly."

"Suit yourself. I'm going to the cafeteria after we change though. But first, I need to get into my plug suit."

Rei thought the boy said that with just a little too much enthusiasm. Kensuke continued. "I guess you've had yours own the whole flight over. If you need to freshen up, there's a women's changing room besides the men's."

"Separate changing rooms?" Kensuke nodded an affirmative. Rei was dully impressed. "These guys really do have some things figured out. We need to acquire some of their personnel for the main branch."

**Scene Shift**

Misato stood in front of the video link, trying to project a professional image and doing a fair job of it. There had been a temporary signal loss after the bomb had detonated, but it had been restored twenty minutes ago. She now had her feed back online with the Second Branch.

A man in a brown Nerv uniform and two women in similar garb looked at her from several thousand miles away. "So, we still don't have anything better?"

Misato shook her head. "We considered sniping the Angel during its decent, but there just isn't enough time. Kensuke's synch ratio isn't good enough, and we would only have Rei to rely on. With the Angel probably traveling at terminal velocity and the strength of the Angel's A.T. Field unknown, it's just not doable."

"I still feel we could commit military assets."

Misato shrugged. "I wouldn't rely on that. The Angels have traditionally shrugged off such attacks."

One of the women, a blonde with short hair, began ticking off points on her fingers. "But this Angel has taken a hit from a nuke. Nothing we've thrown at the invaders to date has even come close. Plus, this is the first Angel we've fought that is specifically designed to detonate. We could have a bomber deliver a N2 Mine while the Evas are holding the Angel up."

"And what if the Angel has some countermeasure? Or worse, if the N2 mine doesn't destroy the Angel, but instead weakens the Eva's grip in holding the attacker up."

The other female talked now. She had long, red hair, and where the previous woman had worn slacks, this one sported a uniform skirt. "It would be better than dissolving the A.T. Field and having it land with its full capacity for destruction still intact. This is the potential danger with the initial proposal. At least if this other way doesn't work, it still weakens the Angel."

Misato frowned. "I don't like it, but I suppose you're right. If only Kensuke had successfully unfolded an A.T. Field by now."

"Based on the initial trial runs we've seen from other children, we are lucky that he's able to move the Eva at all."

Misato knew this was true. Shinji and Asuka had taken to Eva piloting with relative ease, but it had still taken weeks for a successful activation. Shinji had been ahead in the synch ratio scores because he had received more time inside an active Eva. Given the same logon time, Asuka was by far his superior. But it had taken Rei longer to achieve a decent rating with her Eva. Once she got rolling her numbers occasionally spiked high, but this was only after a score of initial start up problems.

If it hadn't been for the data that Nerv had stored up from its previous three activations, knowing how to overcome pitfalls and coach the pilot through the synchronization process, then Kensuke would still be sitting in a chair in amber fluid, straining to achieve a connection with Unit-03.

"I still don't like how we are proceeding so confidently with the projected area of attack. If the Angel decides to come down somewhere other than the base, it'll be a disaster."

One of the women cast a worried look to the man, but that was all that Misato could make out before he answered. "We're fairly certain of the target. After all, what else could it be after?"

**Scene Shift**

The coppery taste of blood was strong in Rei's mouth. Why should the LCL be so much different here? She couldn't say, but she only knew that it was.

Still, Unit-04 felt natural to her. There had been a tense moment during the activation, but things had gone smoothly. In Rei's opinion, she took to Unit-04 better than she had Unit-00. It felt more acceptable.

Unit-03 and Unit-04 were standing on the airfield, facing each other as if they were gunslingers in an old Western. Though over two kilometers separated them, they seemed to be staring at one another.

Absently, Rei heard the tech staff rattle off system checks and numbers. She had discovered that the Captain spoke a little Japanese, which made things easier. Kensuke's face suddenly appeared in front of her on a holo-screen.

"That's pretty impressive."

"Hmm? What?"

"Your synch ratio is 57 percent. Mine is barely 17 percent. You're really good, Second Child."

"You'll get better."

The Captain's face appeared on the screen. He was a large man, of course, with blonde hair. It was odd for Rei to see a natural blonde, but of course, this was America, where hair could be just about any color. Except light blue she amended. He struggled to speak to the pilots in their native language. "In ten next minutes Angel fall. Prepped are you?"

Rei understood what the man was getting at. "Yes," she replied in English that must be as bad as his Japanese, though she had the benefit of brevity to keep from butchering the language. She held one finger on the control switch that would eject the umbilical cable. She could still try to make a run for it. She wasn't at all confident about how this would turn out, though she didn't have the same despair for the battle that had accompanied her on the way over. In her mind, she began to prepare herself to emit an A.T. Field.

Within a few minutes, loud chatter came in over the comlink. Rei looked up and saw a spec appearing in the sky. "It coming," the captain said unnecessarily to the pilots. Rei ejected the external power line, and began sprinting for the falling Angel. She jumped one building, and made her way to the center of a dusty field beside the runway she had been on. She watched the Angel, trying to figure where it would fall. She shuffled several steps to the right, and then to the left. On the external feed, she could here the thundering footsteps of Unit-03 running to her position.

Dust swirled below Unit-04's feet as Rei began expanding her A.T. Field. The Eva raised its arms in just a nick of time, catching the Angel almost perfectly in the center. The strain of so much weight being put on the android was immediately apparent.

"Kensuke!"

"I'm trying!"

"Hold one minute forty-six seconds. Drop on mark bomber in air will."

Rei grunted, feeling the effort of the tension in her own muscles, as if she were trying to pick a car up over her head. She thought she heard someone on the line say her synch ratio was over 70 percent, but who knew if she was getting the English right. Unit-03 tried to push against the A.T. Field as well, but the barrier acted against it as well as it would any angel on the other side of it. As the hands of the android got close, they would be pushed away from the orange lines of the spatial distortion.

Suddenly, Unit-04's right ankle snapped. Rei screamed in pain. Unit-04 fell to the knee of the left leg while struggling against the massive weight of the Angel. She heard a shout over the intercom, and looked to see Unit-03 with a progressive knife at the ready. It was crouched down, working around under the suddenly lower ceiling provided by the A.T. Field.

"We're not going to make it before the bombers arrive. Let it go." Kensuke called out frantically.

"I should've run!"

"Rei, let it go."

"Like I'm going to have a choice. Get away from here, Kensuke."

Unit-03 stared up at the Angel, and tightened its grip on the Prog Knife. Then, raising itself as far as it could with its back legs, it swung the knife up in an underhanded stroke with both arms. The knife bounced off of Unit-04's A.T. Field. Kensuke tried the maneuver again, coiling and springing to give the maximum amount of momentum to the blow, but the knife once again slid harmlessly off of the barrier. "I can't stab through the A.T. Field! Turn it off when I'm on the upstroke. I'll aim for the core."

Unit-03 lowered itself into a squat, and this time Rei did as he asked. The bomber wouldn't be there for another thirty seconds, and Rei knew she couldn't last that long. Just before the knife would have struck her field, the spatial distortion was suddenly gone.

And then everything disappeared in heat and flames.

**Scene Shift**

Kensuke scrambled down the side of Unit-03. The explosion had knocked the Android to the ground, so he only had about a ten-foot drop. He ran for the other Eva after falling onto the crater that the explosion had made in the earth. He looked to the back of Unit-04, and saw the open plug hatch. Rei had ejected. He looked around, and saw a commotion to the east. He couldn't make out any details, but then again, the cloud of dust was the only thing he could observe from within the impact crater. He began to scramble up the side.

He was out of breath when he made it up to the lip of the basin. A jeep was close by with several soldiers in it, and Kensuke managed to croak out something that was loud enough for them to hear. The three people made room for him. Before they started to take off, Kensuke managed to mutter, "I want to see Rei."

There was a quick conversation, and then the jeep was moving. Kensuke figured he was getting his request as they closed in on an area with several medical vehicles parked close together. Even before the jeep had stopped, Aida was on the ground running. He worked his way over to where the Second Child was laid out on a stretcher.

She was a mess. She had burns along her arms. Her ankle was bent at an unnatural angle. The left side of her face promised a nasty bruise. "Rei!"

One of the EMTs looked up, and started pointing angrily at two people close by and then towards Kensuke. The chastised duo made their way over to the pilot.

Rei watched this, struggling to hold onto consciousness. Somewhere close by, she could hear the sounds of a train running on railroad tracks.

She hated that noise. But such concerns were pushed from her mind as a wave of pain washed over her. The initial shock of her injuries progressed from a chilly numbness to excruciating pain. Finally, her body escaped from the stimuli the only way it could.

For Rei Ikari, all went dark.

**Scene Shift**

"Unit-Beta has emitted an A.T. Field." The voice that made the proclamation was more than a little excited.

"Record all data. I don't want to miss a thing."

The team in the control room began to scramble busily, and why shouldn't they. This was something that they had been working towards since the project began. Ritsuko tapped a cigarette out of her pack, and lit it. She walked back to her control station to ensure that everything was getting taken down. She paused to consider the video feed of the pilot.

The blue-haired girl had been unresponsive to almost all stimuli, to the point that Ritsuko had assumed that the girl suffered from a genetic defect. Traditionally, when one tinkered with the DNA of a subject, the results were more often detrimental than beneficial. But now there was something there. The girl's head swayed a little, as if she were listening to a song only she could hear. Ritsuko activated the audio feed and could hear that the girl was humming. The tune was something classical.

But most important was the smile. It wasn't the sad, vacant grin that made you want to pity the girl. Dr. Akagi wasn't sure what the difference was, but it was there.

It was almost as if she were genuinely happy. It spoke of a serene soul.

Ritsuko made sure the brain waves were being monitored and recorded. However they had gotten this to happen, it would be something they would have to replicate in the future, if the project was going to work. They hadn't had this much success with the other pilot.

She was eager to contact Keel and report the news. Soon, it would be time to unveil what she had done to the world. To Nerv.

To mother.

**Author's notes:**

Sorry if parts of that seemed rushed. I really didn't want this to go into another chapter, and this chapter was getting pretty long as it was. Hopefully things didn't suffer too much towards the end for me wrapping it up.

Criticisms and comments are things that I love. Write 'em, be they good or ill. I find both useful.


	21. Scenario no Yui Chapter 21

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Eva.

Proofreader credit goes to Cyber Undead and Big D.

**Chapter 21**

"There is something about war that can pull a person in. Whenever man makes a technological leap, weaponry is always the first to partake of the fruit, assuming there is an application. Incredible destructive capacity is something that should inspire awe. I mean- it's just so cool! A person can get lost in the various intricacies of it all. What is the best defensive measure for stopping an enemy's projectiles? What means can be implemented to counter that defense? It's like a high tech game of paper-rock-scissors! What vehicle can be made that will maximize its war-waging utility? What sort of mindset does a person need to be in to best exploit his opponent's plans? It's a game that a person can play until, at some point, he just shrugs and decides- who cares? This is all so cool!"

"On the battlefield, the drama is real. There is none of that mopey 'Oh no, my lover has leukemia' garbage or some silly crap about who likes who. In the heat of a conflict, a soldier keeps anteing his sweat and blood for the sake of winning. When one is paying for their beliefs, the lives of their friends, or trying to sate the sheer desire to win with their own life, nothing else even comes close to being as dynamic."

"On some level, I guess I knew that conflict was bad. But things get fixed in my head a certain way. I always used to love playing war games, even when it was just by myself. Battles are fun to do because they are simple. Win, and don't die. I usually prioritized them in that order too. Some brave commander with his last breath would pass on leadership to his junior officer, who would go and destroy the enemy by relying on guts, a sneaky trick or two, and the awesome ability to fire his weapon with unerring accuracy."

Kensuke Aida was sitting in a cushioned chair. On a nearby table was a glass of water. He paused briefly in his speech to take a sip, before continuing. "That's how it was in my mind. Then one day, because my interest in seeing some cool new military toy was a lot higher than my survival instinct, I walked into my first real battle. It was an accident, and certainly not what I would have wanted as a debut. To make a long story short, I got my ass saved by some scrawny little girl."

"That day I had something introduced into my perception of combat that had only existed as an abstract idea before: pain. Eva Unit-00 had held the energy tendrils of the Angel to allow Touji and me a chance to get into the entry plug. The smell almost made me gag, though I was so elated to be in the android at the time that it took me a minute to even notice. It was like burnt pork, except with a sweeter tinge to it. When the entry plug closed, I felt something for just a moment. My hands were burning. It wasn't a full blown flaming sensation: it was more like that light tingling when you finish rubbing some Icy-Hot. I remember when the Eva reattached itself to the launch rails to free-fall back into the Geofront. The pilot kept flexing her hands and tears were standing up in her eyes. Or it seemed that way: the LCL makes that sort of observation iffy. It was enough that Touji touched her on the shoulder to ask her if she was okay. She screamed at us, but you could hear her hurt even in that. We got out of the plug quickly."

"I thought about that while I was being interrogated. Well, that's a little bit of a lie. Mostly I was worried about how screwed I was and hoping Nerv wasn't going to do something horrible to me. I mean, as far as I know, I was one of the only people on Earth outside of Nerv that had been in an Eva plug. To begin with, I just hoped that they wouldn't lock me away or kill me. But after Captain Katsuragi came around I felt better. She didn't act like there was much concern about us. Plus, what a goddess! Touji and I answered some more questions, and received strict orders to not speak about classified information. In the middle of all that, and for quite a while after, I contemplated that experience with Rei."

Kensuke waved his hands in front of his chest defensively. "Not like that, though. It was just, that was the first time I had seen a real life battle. And the good guys were hamstrung because I was in the way. Someone was actually coming as close as they could to cooking their own hands without actually doing it to save me because I had been stupid. I would have taken that better if it had been some macho soldier guy I guess, but the one who had done it was a pale, almost sickly girl who looked like the wind might blow her over."

Kensuke looked up and waved in a panicked way again. "No offense intended. I could have said that better. It was just that I had all of these daydreams of being a soldier. In my mind, I was the quintessential man's man. But when it came down to it, Rei was more of a man than I was." Kensuke flinched as he realized his error again. "If you weren't unconscious, you would have hit me a long time ago."

In a hospital bed across from Kensuke, various tubes went to Rei Ikari. One of her legs was in a cast, and she had some nasty looking blisters going up her arms. Her face was relaxed, despite the large bruise on her cheek that was yellowing on the edges. Her docile visage stood in contrast to the obvious signs of suffering throughout her body.

The doctors couldn't figure out why she was still cataleptic. This level of psychosomatic damage was outside of their experience.

Kensuke folded up a piece of paper he had been reading from and shifted to tuck it into his back pocket. "Well, that was one of the things that was going to be on the journal part of my home page. Except for the end: I winged that. I know you don't like me, and that's fine. I wouldn't like me either if I were you. Especially after three days ago. I finally got to go out into the same field of battle as you, and on equal footing. I ended up being dead weight anyway. Sure, we beat the Angel, but if I could have helped you hold it up, nobody would have been hurt."

"I guess what I wanted to say is that… well, I'm not sure. The first thing I thought about after that fight was that I had screwed it up. I just knew you were hurt, and that it was my fault." Kensuke's sigh filled the air. "I guess I thought that now, since I was piloting an Eva, I could be a hero. But I wasn't one that day, when it would have mattered. The person I am in my mind isn't the person who is there in reality. I'm trying to get there, but I'm not even in the same league as you and the other Children when it comes to piloting. Every time I've ever been out in that world, I've been a stone around your neck. I'll try to get better and pull my own weight."

There was a brief pause. "They say that people in comas can hear things that are happening around them. I don't know if that's right or not. If you don't remember any of this, I'm not repeating it. If Touji were here he would tell me I've totally wussed out. Reading touchy-feely stuff to an unconscious girl isn't particularly manly, I guess. But I wanted to say it." There was a pause. "Once."

Kensuke got up and walked over to the bed. "Get better, Rei." He hesitated a moment, frozen in place, and then leaned in. He stopped the motion partway through, his lips a good six inches from Rei's forehead. He seemed to consider something, and then pulled back. He instead squeezed Rei's hand.

Kensuke almost jumped out of his skin as light weight fell on his shoulder. He turned to see his dad standing beside him. The man sported the same sandy hair as Kensuke, and thick, black-framed glasses sat atop his nose. He had on slacks and a button down shirt. A white lab coat let Kensuke know that either his father was still at work or had just finished his shift. "It's time to go. Your visiting time is over.

**Scene Shift**

Ritsuko was lost in the latest projections and timetables for Unit-Beta when she felt a pair of hands clasp scandalously close to the underside of her bosom. She could only think of one person who had the audacity to use that as a standard greeting.

"Kaji." Her voice picked up a bit of scorn as she turned off the screen. "If you try to sneak a glance at the research again, I'm going to have security intervene."

She felt the stubble on his jaw brush against her own cheek. "I'll admit that such things interest me. But what I hold in my arms is much more worthy of attention."

"Kaji, I'm on…"

"A tight schedule. I know. But one must not become so involved in their work ethic that they can't step away and clear their head. That level of devotion is not good for the mind or soul."

"So what, I just drop it?"

"Take at least one night off, woman! Some people actually leave their jobs and go home. You are a beautiful lady, and it pains me to see you hording that splendor behind an unappreciative computer screen."

"Ryoji, you flatter to the point of being cheesy."

"I'll admit that I am trying to sweet-talk a bit. That does not mean that the things I say are any less true."

Ritsuko let a hand drift up to the side of his cheek, feeling his stubble in her palm. She turned her head towards him, and kissed him on the jaw. Kaji instantly turned his own head, seeking her mouth out with his. Ritsuko pulled back.

"Ah, an old-fashioned woman."

Dr. Akagi shook her head. "Misato."

"You needn't worry yourself on that mark. Any chance that I might have had at stirring old embers with her was demolished with my last assignment."

"I've betrayed her enough with this project."

"Does she care for me so deeply that I've become exclusive to her? I wouldn't have thought so."

"It's a bad idea."

Kaji motioned to one of the computer monitors. "It's not nearly as ill conceived as letting that girl walk about freely."

Ritsuko looked to a screen that showed the monstrosity that was their best pilot walking away from her room. "Now that is interesting. She hasn't ventured out without our urging before."

"Do you have any security detail with her?"

"Yes. They've been instructed to keep their distance but to watch her closely. She's been different ever since she unfolded an A.T. Field. I want to observe her behavior with as little clinical interference as possible."

Kaji was still close to Ritsuko's head. He brought himself nearer and said conspiratorially "She and the Second Child may have some sort of psychic connection."

"Rubbish."

"When I led her from Nerv, the First and Second Children were able to pinpoint my location, even though I was in hiding. One of the things that the Second Child said at the end made me think she was tracking us by seeing things through that girl's eyes. If such is the case, you would be well served by keeping that one in the dark as much as possible." Kaji indicated the screen. "Nerv finding out that we might have a potential pilot would not bode well."

**Scene Shift**

The girl traced a coloring pencil along the rim of her eyelash, looking up so hard that it felt like her irises were rolling up into her head. As she pulled the pencil away she blinked several times and saw her reflection in the mirror. Her short, chestnut-colored hair was feathered, and the lightest hint of makeup was around her gray eyes. She patted her cheek with just a slight amount of blush, before a knock interrupted her.

Mana Kirishima looked to her bed where a white shirt was still laid out. She decided to peek through the eyehole in her door before putting the garment on.

She was surprised to see the new girl standing outside in the hall. What made the sight surreal was that the girl seemed to be humming. In fact, it was in Mana's list of things that should not occur.

"Just a minute." Mana went to the bed and started buttoning her shirt, her mind racing. She had seen the new pilot only a few times since the girl had arrived, but they had never spoken directly. She wasn't even sure of the girl's name: people that she had overheard just referred to her as the pilot to Unit-Beta.

Mana was not the type to be unkind, but her first instinct had been that the girl was slow mentally. She walked around in what seemed to be a daze. That wasn't accurate. The girl had acted like nothing around her was even there. She had been totally disconnected.

And now she was in the hall, humming.

Mana fastened the final button and walked back to the door. She opened it, trying to be friendly so that her nervousness wasn't evident.

The girl with the light blue hair beamed when she saw Mana's face. "Greetings, Pilot Mana Kirishima."

"Good morning…" Mana didn't know what to call the girl.

"Rei. Either Ayanami or Ichijo, I haven't decided. I don't believe that Ikari is appropriate."

"Oookay." Despite the girl's newfound energy, Mana wasn't convinced that she should discard the idea that all the wiring might not be routed correctly. "Come in."

'Rei' bounded into the room, and sat on the bed. She almost immediately went from a sitting position to a prone one. She rubbed the covers of the bed against her face. Mana looked on nervously. "This is nice. It's so soft."

"Thanks. It has a high thread count." Mana turned back to the mirror. She only had to apply some lipstick and she would be done with her face.

Rei looked on with interest. "What are you doing?"

Mana waited until she had traced a line of red across her upper lip before answering. "Since your successful activation of Unit Beta, I've gotten a break from the pilot tests. I didn't bother with prettying up too much before because the LCL always ruins the work. But today I get to be girllie."

"Can I try it?"

Mana held up the lipstick. "Be my guest."

"I thought I was."

Mana giggled at the quick retort. The humor died fast when she saw that Rei had been absolutely serious when she had made the comment.

It was obvious from the way that Rei gripped the lipstick that she was going to make a mess. "Let me." Mana traced the lipstick lightly around the girl's mouth. She turned back to the mirror. "You've never put on makeup before?"

"Should I have?"

Mana shrugged. "I guess not. Now, move your lips together like this." Mana rubbed her lips over the top of each other, getting the makeup to cover them totally. Rei imitated the action.

"That red isn't right for your skin. We need a lighter shade I think." Mana started digging through the drawer. "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

Again, a remark that Mana thought was witty without any show of it having been a joke. Did Rei just have a dry sense of humor? "Okay then, I'll make it two. Are you an albino?"

"I'm not sure."

Mana pulled out some pink lipstick. She handed Rei a bit of tissue. "Go ahead and rub that red off. You don't have to say if you don't want to. I shouldn't have asked."

"You're not at fault."

Mana put the pink lipstick on now, going through the same routine again. She pulled back to appraise her work. "Wow. That's good. You look very pretty."

Rei smiled. "Thank you, Mana Kirishima. That is very kind. Are all people so nice?"

Mana looked puzzled. Before she could say anything, there was a knock at the door. 'This room is busy today.' Mana thought. 'Thank goodness someone came before this got awkward. Rei was beginning to get weird on me. Well, weirder' "I need to get that."

Rei nodded. "Of course. Oh, you are pretty as well, Mana Kirishima."

"Thanks. And just call me Mana, okay?"

"As you wish."

Mana made her way to the door and peeked to see who was there. A man in a blue security uniform was standing there, listening to something in his walkie-talkie. Mana quickly opened the door. "Hello, sir."

"Hello. Is the pilot for Unit-Beta currently here?"

Rei approached the door. "I am."

"You need to come with me."

Rei nodded, and turned to Mana. "I hope to see you again, Mana."

"Yeah, me too." Rei's face became puzzled, as if she were trying to work through some mystery buried in Mana's statement. Abruptly, she spun on one heel and left with the security man falling in beside her.

'Odd,' Mana thought.

**Scene Shift**

Kozo Fuyutsuki stood on the catwalk in front of Unit-01. Technicians working on the ground below seemed to put an extra effort into their duties, no doubt nervous because of the Commander's presence. They could have been drinking sake and dancing naked and Kozo wouldn't have paid them any mind, but there was little need to let them in on that fact. Fuyutsuki stared into the dim eyes of the android, as if he could see the occupying presence behind them.

If the eyes were windows to the soul, then the blinds were pulled close and the lights turned off within these particular panes of glass.

Section Two had finally found a radar tech on duty the night of the power failure. Three objects that were most likely transport helicopters had been spotted. The man had been instructed by someone higher in the command chain to disregard the objects at the time. When Nerv had inquired after this decision, the superior could not be located.

They had been able to deduce two facts from this. First, since the blips had been moving north, away from the coastline, the stolen materials should still be relatively close. This didn't preclude that the abducted angel and S2 organ hadn't been loaded on a ship, but probably dictated that what had been taken from Nerv was still somewhere in the Japanese mainland. Secondly, the convenient unavailability of the radar tech's superior suggested that at least certain parties in the government or military were actively working against Nerv.

So, who were the perpetrators? It could be a rival venture, such as the defunct Jet Alone project. The JSSDF could be behind it. If a foreign power were involved, it would almost certainly have to be under Seele's ultimate guidance. There was almost no other organization that might have enough influence within Japan to pull this off.

If only this dilemma were the end of his problems. But Naoko's fears were proving correct. He remembered the conversation he had thirty minutes earlier:

"And why, Commander Wisdom, are you trying to delay her transfer?" Fuyutsuki had been stern as he said this, letting cold, calm menace into his voice.

The American on the hologram across from him had tapped something that was away from the encryption area of his transceiver. All that could be seen was an arm disappearing up to the elbow in space. In front of Kozo, various screens opened themselves. The first showed bare skin around the upper torso, the slight swell of a breast making it clear that the subject had been a female. Scabs ran around in an intermittent pattern, forming an arc along the exposed area. A close-up featured a nasty bruise on the upper left of what was presumably the same female's body. A third, fourth, and fifth picture showed various burns along a pair of arms, then another picture of facial bruising and swelling. Finally a trio of pictures showed an ankle broken in a simple fracture and the post treatment shot after it was reset.

"What you have been doing to these children is inhumane."

Kozo chuckled dryly. "How convenient it must be for you to absolve yourself of any involvement. Rei's latest, and by far worst, injuries were received for your sake, and those of your countrymen."

"We are not moving her until she has made a sufficient enough recovery to allow for her safe transportation. We owe her at the very least that much."

"Some might think it suspicious that your sudden humanitarian impulses serve to keep a pilot in your care that you should not have."

The conversation had degenerated from there. Veiled accusations and claims of oblivious innocence were what their words had amounted to.

Nothing had changed on the face of Unit-01, but Kozo's perception felt as if it deepened. He imagined he saw approval on the demonic visage, but a prolonged study made it seem like the look was more of accusation. Fuyutsuki has been soft and weak. He was a damned idiot who couldn't make the hard call and let the U.S. take a hit so that the rest of humanity might be saved. He could have prevented the second children's captivity, not to mention her injuries.

That wasn't the worst of his shortsightedness in this venture. He knew that Rei's synchronization rate had spiked above eighty percent. Unit-04 was a derivative of Adam. The conditions were dangerously close for instituting one set of requirements for a Third Impact. He had been too self-assured in interpretations of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Rei hadn't achieved a hundred percent, but the whole venture had been careless. He did not need to proceed with the assumption that events would unfold as he thought they should.

The Americans had done tests on Rei by now. It would have probably started innocently enough: after the battle, she would have been checked for blood type. It would be decided that she could receive O-, but a few anomalies in her protein sequencing would eventually warrant further investigation. That would uncover all sorts of abnormalities in her gene pairs.

So, two Reis were out of his control now. What was worse, the Americans could take over the Eva program by merely stalling. Commander Wisdom would have never tried such a thing before. Because the U.S. had been given more leash by the committee they had become brazenly confident. Maybe they had forgotten the leash was even there.

That wasn't the reason. The rogue Seele member from the U.S. had never been forced to pay penance for leaving the Cabal. That was what had emboldened the Americans. In fact, Kozo felt confident that he saw Joshua's hand in all of this mess.

If events were left as they were now, Fuyutsuki knew how it would play out. China and America would stop letting headquarters look to them for repairs on Units-00, -01, and -02. With an angelic attack happening outside of Japan, everyone would want an Eva. Korea would probably stay on board with the Japanese if they could be convinced that Nerv was capable of responding to an Angelic threat to them. Seele was influential enough within the European commonwealth that they could still convince France and Britain to cooperate. And Germany was always a stable support. But those countries were all too far away, and with the next Angel attacks potentially coming with less down time between each, re-supplying would become impractical. All that he would be able to mend his current squad with would be what was on-hand at Tokyo, and perhaps the Russians, who were not very far along in fabricating one of the golems. The Soviets were still in a deep economic depression, so they were easy enough to buy off.

The last few attacks had witnessed extensive damage to the Eva units. Unit-02 had needed far-reaching repairs, and Unit-01 had been even more expensive because almost all of the epidermis had been damaged in the magma immersion. Unit-00 had almost cleared inspection to be sure it hadn't been contaminated during its time encased in Bakelite with an angel. He would have a fresh set of Evas within a pair of weeks, but when they were damaged next time, that would be it. And given one interpretation of the scriptures, it seemed that at least one of the golems was destined to turn against them. It was almost a given that without the parts to keep the Evas running, they would be unable to go the distance to Third Impact.

So, when his squad became unsalvageable, which was very likely with the next few Angels, an alternative would have to be sought out. The Americans would have two fresh Evas and able pilots on hand to man them. Adam would be officially placed somewhere in North America by the Committee, who would sanction the Americans thieving after the fact.

Mankind would be doomed to becoming a single, homogeneous being because a few old men were scared of being alone and dying. The fault wouldn't lie with just Seele though. He had made a bad decision and given in to humanitarian impulses.

Fuyutsuki knew he could be overreacting. The Americans might be sincere in their reasoning and might be more than willing to send Rei back when she was considered medically sound. And they might not have discovered anything abnormal enough in her physiology to justify a test on the genetic level. But he had to go forth with an assumption of the worse case scenario.

Kozo knew he had a resource to extract Rei. Getting inside an American installation and retrieving someone should have been damn near impossible. But he recalled that Keel had talked about leaving contingencies in place on the various branches. It wasn't long after Gendo had gone into Unit-01, if Kozo's memory was correct. When Gehirn had become Nerv, Fuyutsuki had been worried about various nations taking over the Nerv branches and using the androids for their own interests. In fact, a variation of that fear was the card that he played to keep Naoko on board with his interests. Keel had said that he had fail-safes in place to keep that from occurring.

At the time Kozo had thought it was something as simple as a self-destruct sequence. As time passed and he noticed the various branches falling into line with Seele's will, another theory emerged. Keel had most likely planted influential people, or inactive sleepers for that matter, to quell insurrection and take emergency measures as needed. After all, it was impractical to put a self-destruct capability on an Eva. Given the mutable nature of the Angels and their proclivity to attempt an attack from any angle, eventually one of them would be able to activate such a thing remotely. They were already seeing new uses for the A.T. Field, and the trials were barely at the halfway mark. And the destruction of a whole branch was irrelevant if an Eva unit could not be secured.

So, all Kozo had to do to fix this was use Seele's resources. He would approach them and tell them what was wrong, and most likely they would have Rei delivered back within a week.

Except that Joshua Christian, the man who had quit Seele, had not been dealt with.

There was no reason for that at first glance. Seele had the resources and means to end his life instantly.

Unless he was allowed to roam free to bring about the current situation.

Kozo should have approached Seele when the Americans abducted Adam. It probably hadn't been foreseen that Yui would be able to strike a deal with Joshua, or that he would find the conditions agreeable. Kozo had not wanted to approach Seele with the problem. He felt that they would have gotten the job done, but there would have probably been additional staff in the aftermath to increase security. Those men would no doubt hold ultimate allegiance to Keel, and prove to be Nerv's downfall at an inopportune time. Calling for assistance in getting Rei now was fraught with the same hazard.

There was another danger as well. Keel might take the initiative and have Rei killed instead of extracted. Such an operation had a much likelier chance of success. And given Rei's current medical state, which was largely a mystery to the American doctors, an accidental death was quite possible to arrange.

So, there were the options he had been able to devise. Damned if he did; damned if he didn't.

At least there was a small silver lining: having an Angel almost literally dropped into their laps had galvanized the Americans' release of Adam. Kozo was expecting the first man to return to his possession before the next day was up. Adam was being sent to them with all possible haste.

Fuyutsuki concentrated again on the demonic purple head before him. Kozo had held an immediate dislike for Gendo Rokubungi when he had first met the man. He had a smug, egotistical nature that just begged for someone to punch him. A notion that more than a few people seemed to act on during the time Kozo had known him. But damned if it wasn't justified.

Gendo had made a good decision. Even after ten years, his widow (after a manner) was ready to drop Fuyutsuki in favor of him, and he resided within the belly of a god-beast that he could control like a puppet. All this while Kozo worked through ulcer-creating dilemmas that should have belonged to Rokubungi.

"Clever bastard. God, how I hate and admire you."

**Scene Shift**

Naoko looked as someone knocked on her door. "Come in."

Misato strode in with a smile on her face. To anyone else it might have seemed merely cheerful, but Naoko had known the other woman long enough now to know that she was going to ask for something. Misato made sure to lock the door behind her. "Good morning, Dr. Akagi." Misato spared a glance around be fore taking a seat at her customary chair. "Maya around?"

"I've got her finishing up the Magi's diagnostics. We don't ever seem to get enough of a break from Angel attacks to finish it." Naoko smiled a little indulgently. "Plus, letting Maya order some people around will be good for the girl. She really is too shy. The idea of being in control of the process positively elated and frightened her."

"Will she be alright?"

Naoko waved the question off dismissively. "Maya is a technophile and a genius. She'll be fine. Honestly, I can't figure out where her lack of self-confidence comes from. But anything I can do to help is a good thing."

"I'm glad to hear you're in such a generous mood…"

"Ah, here we go."

"And what does that mean?" Naoko arced an eyebrow and Misato looked away, slightly embarrassed. "I don't come by just to ask for favors."

"Not always."

A brief silence filled the room before Misato finally spoke up. "Asuka is having a hard time coming to terms with what Kaji did. I need to borrow the video surveillance of him from that night."

Naoko thought about telling Misato 'no' flat out. Giving Asuka access to that footage was just a slow way of revealing that Naoko was spying on the Commander and Sub-Commander. Asuka would tell Shinji, who would tell Yui, who would wonder how such footage existed and hadn't made its way to her.

Misato could be a little stubborn sometimes though, and Naoko would like to keep any hurt feelings from springing up between them. So she decided on a white lie. "That's not possible. I destroyed the file."

"Why would you do that?"

"To keep from getting caught, Misato. Yui doesn't know as much as I do about the Magi, but she is knowledgeable enough to snoop around the system adeptly. I can't leave things like that on a computer, or anywhere else for that matter."

Misato sighed. "It's okay. I understand. It just would have helped Asuka get out of her denial. She's really rabid about discovering the truth of that night, and I'm not sure what to do. I want to help her, but once she realizes that the accounts are accurate, she's going to go somewhere bad mentally. I'm worried that she might relate it to what happened to her mother on an emotional level."

"The best thing you could do is to just be there for her, Misato."

"I try. It's just… Asuka is so independent. The closest I can come is being like a sister, but it's still not a friendly relationship for the most part."

"There's nothing wrong with that."

"And this job keeps me from being home."

"You won't hear me brag on Yui much, but I'll say this. She's proof that you can spend a lot of time in this place and still raise your kids well."

Misato chewed on that for a minute. "Mind if I ask something personal?"

"Go ahead, but I might return the favor sometime."

"What's the deal with you and the Sub-commander?"

"Oh, I think cattiness in general is a genetic trait encoded onto the Ikari X chromosome."

Misato smiled. "You don't have to say."

"Men."

Misato felt her mouth open just a little. "Men?"

Naoko nodded. "Our problem is men. Of course, we've been around each other long enough that any ill feelings have simmered down into cold professionalism. The job comes before being bitchy with each other. But she is not one of my favorite people. And she shouldn't be one of yours either."

"Why's that?"

"She doesn't speak about you favorably, Misato."

"I didn't know."

"It's nothing. Just know that Yui Ikari is not your friend, but she is your boss." Naoko sighed. "Most likely, she projects some of her feelings concerning me onto you. It's no secret that we aren't the best of buddies. But I guess none of that really answered your question, did it?" Naoko nodded towards Misato's cup. "Go ahead and get some more, this might take a moment."

Misato waved her off. "I'm good."

"I know that most of your social exposure was from Germany, so you might not know how things can be with married people in Japan. It's not uncommon that when a husband and wife have a child together for their… sexual dynamic to change. There's a distinction made between a sexy girlfriend and a mother of a child. So some couples, after having a child, sate their urges outside of the union. Just so long as the person is discrete, there's not an issue."

"Well, I remember that's how it used to be with some people. Sorry to interrupt." Naoko motioned for Misato to continue. "Well, with the population shortage following Second Impact and the decreased rate of pregnancies, I thought that sort of thinking was tossed out the window."

"I should have given you a relevant time frame. We are talking about early 2000."

"Oh."

"I guess this is just a long justification for my actions, but I never saw myself as some sort of 'home-wrecking whore.' But after Shinji was born, Gendo, Yui's husband of the time, and I engaged in a sort of arrangement. We were very subtle about it, but word got back to Yui anyway. She didn't take it well."

"After her husband died, Kozo followed her around like a puppy. Of course it was brushed off as him being a doting father figure and former mentor, but I saw his glances at her. The fact that they were in a platonic relationship was certainly not his prerogative."

"So, things went like this for three years, and the woman never shows any romantic interest. The truth be told, it was very annoying to watch. Kozo is not an ugly man. He has a morale fortitude that is endearing, and his resolve when committed to what he believes is right is admirable. He's a smart person, if a bit cold under social pressure. So I decide to explore whether there's anything there for the two of us. We went out a time or two, and were starting to hit it off. And then, out of nowhere, Yui decided that she missed Fuyutsuki's attentions, and pulls him back in. The two have been cohorts ever since."

"So, the Commander and Sub-commander are a couple?"

"I'm not sure. They certainly were. Something's going on lately though. I doubt they think I notice, but I've been around them for a long time. Their mannerisms are pretty easy for me to read."

"Wow. Score another one for the rumor mill. I thought all that talk about the two being involved with each other was because their positions dictated they spend time together."

"Quid pro quo, Major. I get to ask you something."

"Dang." Misato sighed resignedly. "What is it?"

"Who are you taking to Megumi's wedding?"

"I might just go stag."

"Oh? You're not taking Makoto as your date?"

Misato raised her eyebrows. "You think that's wise?"

"I think that you've tested him quite a bit. He runs more than a few errands for you."

"Megumi works in Unit-01's cage. Half of Nerv will be there. Do you think it's a good idea to be seen with a subordinate like that?"

"Throw the man a bone, Misato. I'm sure he'll return the favor."

"Naoko!"

Dr. Akagi's eyes sparkled, and she had an impish smile. "Just something to think about. You've said yourself that Asuka has been a challenge. If you're getting tension from work and from home, you need to find somewhere that you can relax."

"I'll do it if you come too."

Naoko laughed. "You'll do it anyway."

Misato got up and started moving towards the door. "Don't be so sure."

"I'll feign uncertainty if it makes you feel better."

Misato stuck out her tongue, and left the room.

**Scene Shift**

Asuka was pacing in a hall making hand gestures. Seeing no one around, she occasionally voiced some of her internal dialogue.

"This is stupid. Who in the Hell does he think he is to tell me what to do? He's got a lot of nerve."

Asuka walked to a door, and raised her hand to knock. She immediately lowered it. 'No.' She thought furiously. 'I am not kissing up to anyone because he decides that's how it's got to be. It doesn't matter what some damn little boy thinks anyway. I'll toss him away and find a real man.'

Asuka turned away ready to stomp off. 'Why in the Hell do I worry about what he thinks anyway? He's not that special.'

Even through her righteous indignation, she managed to dredge up a sensation. It was the feeling of her foot slipping on something. Except it hadn't been her foot: it was Unit-02's. Shinji had jumped into the lava without any regard for himself. He had urged her to climb him even as her steps almost disemboweled him.

Those were not the actions of a little boy.

He was cute; she could admit that. Shinji was nice too, though all the boys were nice when their hormones started acting up, which was a reaction that Asuka's beauty tended to inspire in the opposite sex.

But he did not get to order her around, damn it! That was not a part of who she was. Asuka Langley Sohryu was self-sufficient. She lived for herself, and to pilot Eva, because eventually, that was all she had. In all likelihood, some fourteen-year-old boy was not going to inspire a lifelong romance. He'd leave. Everyone left.

Another memory crept up. She could hear Shinji talking. "I thought maybe you had some human decency in you, that you could regret what you did a little, but you can't even say that you're sorry. Go find another dog to kick."

This wasn't her fault. She shouldn't have to go begging for forgiveness. He managed to get one apology out of her, but that wasn't enough. Oh no, not for the number one synch ratio pilot Shinji.

"Damned stupid baka!"

On some level, he had made it her fault. He had done everything right, never mind that he had wrongly accused Kaji and started some witch-hunt. She shouldn't have slapped him. In his mind she had betrayed him. Who cared if it was actually the other way around?

She did want to keep talking to him. Shinji understood her a little, which was more than she could say for most people. No one else knew what it was like to pilot the Eva, except maybe for that freak Rei.

Asuka gritted her teeth. "This is such a load of bull."

**Scene Shift**

Yui Ikari watched the feed from a video camera outside her hall. Section Two had called her to notify her that the Second Children was outside her door and acting erratically.

What was Asuka up to?

The girl always dredged up the worse feelings in Yui.

On one level, she saw her own failures when she looked at Asuka. Keel had talked with Kyoko and Yui, separately of course, to convince them to go into Eva. Had Yui been allowed, she would have given herself over to the golem whole, leaving nothing behind. Because that was the way it had to be: the prophecies seemed to state this clearly. But Kyoko had tried to sacrifice only a part of her essence on the altar that was Eva. The results were disastrous, but Yui had always thought that Kyoko had been the braver one of them.

Despite what had eventually happened, Kyoko had been the better mother. She had done what she could to save humanity, while trying to keep her little girl from being alone. The idea had not even occurred to Yui to go forward with half-measures.

The whole thing had been tragic. The empty shell that became Kyoko had done much more damage than a sudden disappearance would have ever caused.

On top of that guilt was anger. Asuka had all but broken Shinji's heart. It was all she could do to keep from gouging the girl's eyes out when she slapped him in the hospital. Shinji had never been hurt like that: not emotionally.

Finally, there was a knock at the door.

"Enter."

Asuka came in and bowed. "I would like to speak with you, Sub-Commander Ikari."

"Then do so." Yui's response was soft, and even though it tempered her words, they still felt hostile to Asuka.

Asuka twisted her lips, almost visibly biting down on some remark that wouldn't have helped the conversation. "I shouldn't have slapped Shinji. I wished it hadn't happened. I have apologized to him. I'm sorry."

"That's all?"

Asuka clenched her hands together, and rolled her head to the side. She looked back at Yui. "What do you mean?" The words came out through mostly clenched teeth.

"You hurt my son, Pilot Sohryu. That is not something I take lightly. Pretty words that feel like they are delivered under duress aren't convincing, though I can appreciate the intent."

"You know it wasn't Kaji that night."

"You have no clue as to what I do and do not know."

Asuka put her hands on her hips. "Fine. Who did he kidnap?"

"What?"

"Shinji and Rei said they allegedly saw him kidnapping someone before he supposedly shot them. Sooo…" Asuka shrugged her hands. "Who's missing?"

"You don't need to know that, Asuka."

"Because no one on the bridge has said anything about a missing person. None of the techs that I talked to had any missing co-workers, except for some Kisho guy who broke his arm. Nobody is missing. As far as I can tell, that means this whole kidnapping thing is a bunch of sheiss."

"I know Kaji was special to you, Asuka. He was your overseer before Misato, so you were probably quite attached. But he did betray Nerv."

"How? Who did he kidnap?"

"He was responsible for the power loss before the Angel attack. He sabotaged Headquarters. His actions were indirectly responsible for almost getting you killed." Yui wished she could take those words back even as she said them. The cold look of resolve that crossed Asuka's features told of her error.

"Have you got proof? Or are we relying on the eyewitness account of the Wonder Twins?"

"I will not discuss this matter further, Asuka. Desist speaking on this subject with any Nerv personnel, or anyone else for that matter." Yui's authoritative tone softened as she said, "You need to move on."

Asuka turned quickly on her heel, not quite stomping back into the hall. Before she left, she turned back. "I meant it. I'm sorry about Shinji. But that's the only damn thing." And then she was gone.

Yui took a moment to ponder the conversation. Asuka had managed to surprise her, though Yui should have seen this coming. Now she had to decide the best way of fixing this situation.

**Scene Shift**

Maya let the clipboard down to her side, clearly exhausted. "That's good. Everyone take a break." A quick look of panic crossed her face. "Well, not everyone. I mean… non-essential personnel may take a break."

More than a few amused glances were passed between some of the techs around the exposed Magi casings. Maya blushed slightly. She almost jumped when someone nudged her side.

Out of the side of his mouth, and in a quiet whisper, Makoto spoke. "You're doing fine. We've made it through the diagnostic without a hitch. Try to relax, Maya."

Maya gave one quick nod, before walking over to check something on Caspar.

"Poor woman." Aoba had turned around in his chair now, and faced Makoto.

"Yeah."

"So, is the remote plug experiment still tomorrow?"

Makoto shrugged. "It should be. I had to check some code on a computer in the Pribnow Box earlier, but it came out fine. I don't see any reason for it to be delayed. Of course, you know how the Angels are about letting us have a schedule. I would almost bet good money that one of them will attack during the middle of the test. I swear they're trying to wear us down with redundant maintenance checks as opposed to assaulting us outright."

Aoba grinned. "Our enemies are more devious than we know."

**Author's Notes:**

First off, I try to give credit where credit is due. Big D looked over the Chapter 20 draft and sent me back some good feedback on why the initial scene with Shinji and Asuka felt wrong. His suggestions inspired the revised scene, which seems to have gone over very well.

I learned a few things about writing over the course of this chapter. First off, if you get out of the habit of writing, it is very, very hard to slip back in. I had initially planned on just taking a two week break while I vacationed and went to Conventions and the such. That stretched out a little longer, and every time I sat down to write this chapter, I felt like I was forcing the words out. I'm still not happy with this Chapter.

Got something to say? Lemme have it. I read the criticisms and compliments and take them into consideration. My appreciations for all the comments and suggestions to make this story better.

Thanks for reading


	22. Scenario no Yui Chapter 22

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Eva.

Proofreader credit goes to Cyber Undead and Big D. They're both great, and there are passages in this text that Big D practically wrote. I appreciate the help guys.

**Chapter 22**

The room was dim. The twilight barely sent illumination through the window, and only a small sliver of light made its way back to the bedroom from the kitchen. An LED from an SDAT player profiled the stomach of a teenage boy who was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Though distant noise from a television somewhere in the house could be heard, it was lost to Shinji as music flooded in through the headphones.

Two days. That was way too long for there not to be a phone call, an email, a text message, word passed on by someone else… or anything concerning Rei.

The house felt empty tonight.

Shinji was not prone to lying about and generating angst, the last few days being an exception. On the other hand, the three people he spent most of his time with weren't around to lift the mood.

Why didn't anyone know for sure how Rei was? He hadn't ever been separated from her for this long. When he questioned his mom about her, she just said that Rei would hopefully be home soon, but she wasn't able to talk to them right now. His mother was late coming home from work today, which left him feeling uneasy as well.

Thoughts of Asuka ate at him almost as badly as Rei. When he had confronted her, he had been able to stand up and be angry by just the slimmest of margins. For every impulse that screamed at him to be pissed off, there seemed to be another telling him to beg the German girl for forgiveness. After all this time with no word from Asuka, he was afraid that he might have made a mistake in handing down his ultimatum.

The idea that he had lost any chance with Asuka made him feel sick at his stomach. And when his mind shifted off of that and onto whether Rei was actually okay, it made it worse.

It occurred to young Ikari that perhaps he should actually make friends with some guys. It would come in useful right now. He could do with some inane chatter to take his mind off of his worries. But of course, now that the impulse to make friends had hit him, he doubted he would be very good company for anyone. He knew that he was a downer at the moment.

The sound of a door closing brought him out of his thoughts. Knowing that Section Two wouldn't let any unauthorized personnel enter the house, it could only be a handful of possible people.

Yui was unloading a sack of groceries when she saw her son glance excitedly out of the doorway to his bedroom. His face fell just slightly when he saw her. "Would you help me put these away?"

Shinji nodded, and grabbed several cans. As soon as they had finished that chore, Shinji felt Yui's arms around him. "I'm sorry, Shinji. I know you were hoping for your cousin."

"Have you heard anything?"

"I have, but it wasn't the news I was wanting. I'll tell you what: first thing in the morning, I'm going to get her."

Shinji beamed up at his mother. "Really?"

Yui nodded. "I feel like the Americans are feeding us a line of bull. I'm not going to stand idly by and let them keep Rei from us any longer. We'll have the family back together again soon. Okay?"

Shinji hugged her, and she kissed the crown of his head. "Now, what do you want for supper? Oh, and something odd happened today at work. You'll want to hear about it."

**Scene Shift**

Ritsuko reached into her pocket for a cigarette. This interrogation was trying her patience. She knew there were people more qualified to question this Angel/Human hybrid, but the sensitive nature of the information that might be revealed meant that this was something that Ritsuko needed to do on her own. She lit it and took a deep drag.

"What is it that you are doing?"

Dr. Akagi looked up at the Nephilim, who was staring back quizzically. "You've never seen anyone smoke?" The girl shook her head. "Well, it's not a healthy thing to do. But the nicotine can be soothing."

"May I try it?"

Ritsuko thought about denying her, but figured this could be a good tactic for encouraging the subject to confide in her. She tapped the pack and three buttes stuck out. She removed one and slid it across the table. The lighter followed quickly after.

The blue-haired girl held the cigarette up, and after several attempts got the lighter to spark. She tried to imitate what she had seen Ritsuko do, taking a hard inhalation through the filter. She immediately started coughing.

Ritsuko pointed to the water cooler, and the girl went to it quickly. After a few gulps she turned back to the blonde. "That was awful!"

"It takes a little practice. So, where were we? I believe you were telling me that everything up to the Unit Beta activation was vague."

The Nephilim nodded. "I sort of remember the guy with the scraggly face. And there are other memories, but they are not my own."

"Could you explain that for me?"

The girl smiled helplessly. "No, I don't think I can."

Ritsuko took another drag. "You told me you were going to cooperate and be truthful."

"I can't tell you how I make my heart beat. I don't understand how the process occurs, it just does. And I don't know how the memories happen. I know they are hers…"

"Rei Ikari's?"

"Yes."

"What are they memories of?"

"Mostly a boy, Shinji Ikari, and her aunt, Yui. I know she piloted a robot like I do. I… she… well, we like shark fin soup and chicken stir-fry. I… we like to collect Beanie Babies. I guess that's wrong, since I don't have any. She would be the collector."

"Can she sense what you sense? Does Rei Ikari receive your memories in the same manner that you acquired hers?"

"I don't know. She won't tell me." A brief silence followed, before the subject spoke again. "She doesn't like me."

"You've met her?"

"No… yes… I don't know. When something happens in your head, how do you know it's real?" The Nephilim was dour for a moment before she brightened. "Pilot Kirishima showed me how to apply makeup today. I think I would like some. And could I be allowed to shop for some things to brighten up my living quarters. My room doesn't feel right with plain walls, you know?"

"I'll see what I can do. We're drifting off the topic. Why do you think that Rei Ikari doesn't like you?"

"I don't know. She didn't. I'm different now though. She's changed as well. I don't want to try and see her anymore. She might change me into what I was before. I don't want to go back. I like being alive."

The doctor wanted to pursue that further, but a sudden ringing interrupted them. Ritsuko picked up the phone receiver in annoyance. She had left specific instructions that she was not to be disturbed while she interviewed the pilot for Unit Beta.

"Dr. Akagi speaking."

"Ma'am, the S2 organ just did it again. While we were attempting to house it within Unit Alpha the core shielding achieved a state similar to a Bose-Einstein Condensate. It was only for a fraction of a second, but it was enough to slip through the housing."

'Most delicate thing in existence my ass,' Ritsuko thought angrily. "That shouldn't be possible. Was the core being irradiated to keep the atomic structure excited?"

"We followed you protocols to the letter, ma'am."

Ritsuko sighed. "Casualties?"

"Five, only one serious though. A technician suffered a bad fall when the organ bumped a walkway. He is not expected to die, though paralysis from vertebral injuries is possible."

"Alright. Take whatever immediate precautions you must and then cordon off the site until I arrive. It should be within ten minutes."

"Understood, ma'am."

Ritsuko hung up the phone, and turned back to the thing that was calling herself Rei now. "This interview may have to wait. I will have security escort you back to your room."

Rei nodded solemnly.

**Scene Shift**

"You shouldn't go."

Yui was sitting across from Commander Fuyutsuki in his living room. It had been a while since she had come over to the place. He still kept it immaculate. And the leather sofa, a vanity item of obvious western influence, smelled good.

"So we just let them have Rei? You know as well as I do that the Americans' story is nothing but lies. If they were really concerned with the pilot's health they would send her back to our doctors, who know Rei better and have been tending to her all of her life."

"And what keeps them from kidnapping you?"

"Please, Kozo, give them some credit. Abducting the Second-in-Command of Nerv will cause the whole U.N. to come crashing down on them. The Americans can't risk the wrath of the entire world."

"But they won't be defying the U.N. per se: they'll be opposing Nerv. And with the budgetary constraints we are placing on the world at large, this organization is not popular."

"Even if that is so, we're still more popular on the international landscape than the Americans. Actually, it would work out better if they did try something. It would be the same as threatening the U.N.'s sovereignty. There are still those who recall the disregard that the U.S. showed the United Nations before Second Impact. We might find ourselves as a rallying point if the Americans threaten or abuse us."

Fuyutsuki shifted to a different argument. "Travel is fraught with danger now. Shi'ite fundamentalists are starting to preach that Nerv is Satan's whore, especially since they've decided to make a link between the Angels attacking the United States and us. Extremist of that group don't shy from using violence. And the Vatican is being pressured to make a statement, which could happen within the coming days. We located our headquarters within the Geofront because of its unique connection to Lillith. Don't forget that the fact that it was within Japan, and therefore far removed from the serious influence of Western Religions, was also a prime selling point for using this place as the locale of our base of operations."

After Second Impact, most of the world's religions saw resurgence in the numbers of their followers. The Western Religions were of great concern because they would view a battle against God's envoys as an action to be opposed. The fact that the Western world wasn't in arms against Nerv was due to cover stories from the P.R. division. For the most part, it was widely held that the Japanese had merely used an English word stupidly, and many decided to use the term 'Invaders' to give a proper context to their roles as adversaries.

The Angels were predominantly held to be some sort of alien aggressors. But even within that context, there were people who would rather ascribe such beings as being sent from a divine power. And the appearance of a new, intelligent species was causing many to contemplate what place such beings would have in their belief system. Such theological speculation occasionally cast Nerv as an evil fighting against holy creatures. This was rare, as humans tended to side with their own, and such biases colored their opinions. Nerv's Public Relations division was steadfast in presenting information concerning the Angels in language firmly grounded in science, and went a long way in quelling possible brushfires among the faithful. Still, the number of people who believed Nerv was something other than mankind's savior was growing.

Fuyutsuki continued. "Because the notion was a ruse doesn't make it any less viable. The further you remove yourself from H.Q., the greater the danger."

"I'm willing to chance it."

Kozo leaned forward in his chair, a fire lighting in his eyes. "I am not."

Their gazes were locked on one another for a pregnant moment. Yui got up and walked over to the chair where Kozo was following her every movement. She bent down, and kissed him. His hands rested on top of her hips, and she pulled his face closer. She stopped and looked up into his eyes. "I'm going."

"You play dirty, Yui."

She smiled. "All of the analyzing, the worries about what is coming, about our responsibilities, the entanglements, and intellectualization: let's just put it aside for an hour. I've missed you." Yui sat down in his lap, and kissed him again.

**Scene Shift**

Asuka emerged from the changing room to find Shinji Ikari leaning up against the wall.

"I'd like to walk with you to the test area."

"Suit yourself, First Child."

Asuka strode down the hall, with Shinji following behind and to the side. The only sound either of them made was the hurried footfall on the floor until they reached the elevator. The Pribnow box was simply to deep within headquarters to consider an escalator. Asuka tapped a button, and they waited for the doors to open.

Once they were inside and descending, Shinji spoke up. "Mom told me that you came by and apologized yesterday. I… appreciate that."

"You better. I'll be damned if I go expressing regret over stuff I'm not even wrong about for nothing." Shinji turned his head to look at something he suddenly found interesting on the wall. Asuka sighed. "Except for hitting you, of course."

Shinji nodded, and was able to look back up with a guarded smile. Asuka wondered if his mother had told him about the whole conversation. Either the Sub-commander had left their confrontation out, or Shinji was being tactful and not acknowledging it.

"She wanted to know if I put you up to it. I told her I had. She seemed impressed that you had been able to do it."

Asuka raised an eyebrow. "And what is that supposed to imply?"

Shinji's mind scrambled. "I didn't mean it like that." He struggled to quickly put the sentiment into a form she might like. "You're someone that is confident and believes in herself. I think it's great. But I know it made what you did a lot harder than it might have been."

Asuka nodded. "Half of the Japanese people I've met start calling out 'I'm sorry' as an automatic response to things. I'm surprised that someone in this country might think there's something special to the act."

"In Japan, we're taught to contemplate the way our actions affect others. I think where you are from, you're taught to take in the considerations of yourself. Mom said she's often heard Westerners say a lot of things like 'Look out for yourself' and 'God takes care of those that take care of themselves'."

"Sounds like you guys talked about me in some detail." The German girl didn't seem particularly pleased.

"She wanted me to comprehend the severity of what I had asked you to do."

There was a light bell-sound that let them know they were at their destination. The two stepped out, and Shinji studied the hall to make sure that no one was around. For the moment, the passageway was empty.

"And do you?"

Shinji nodded his head. "Thanks. I'm s… I appreciate it." He studied her face for a moment. Then he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek.

As he pulled away, Asuka caught his chin between her thumb and forefinger.

"We're not kids, Shinji. I don't want to kiss like a third-grader." She brought his face back and locked her lips with his. They stood frozen like that for several moments. When she finally ended it and stepped away to examine her work, Shinji had a goofy grin on his face.

"That was nice." His smile went from silly to serene, and the German girl had to admit it made him look handsome.

Asuka wagged her finger. "You're going to have to do something about that heavy nose breathing. It tickles. I don't want to hurt your delicate male ego by laughing in the middle of things."

Shinji's good humor abated slightly. "You didn't like it?" He looked down, clearly distraught. "I'm sorry. I haven't kissed anyone like that..."

"God, stop apologizing. I didn't say it was bad. But it looks like I can add something else to the tab you're running up. Between apologizing to your mother, which sucked badly, thank you very much, and kissing lessons, you'll have a lot of debt to work off."

Shinji looked like he was going say something. He shut his mouth quickly, thinking better of speaking the first thing that came to his mind. He instead nodded. "Okay."

They walked to the decontamination showers together. Asuka gripped her hand in his, and though this had made Shinji jerk in surprise, he quickly recovered. As they approached the decontamination stalls, Shinji turned back to her. He seemed to consider the idea of kissing, though now that there were other people around it seemed less appropriate, and he didn't want to push his luck. "I'd like to see you after the test, if you don't mind."

Asuka nodded. "That depends on how long it takes. We might have time to do something."

Shinji told her okay, and they separated to go to their respective booths.

**Scene Shift**

The water was hot. Asuka saw that her fingertips had become pruned from the constant dampness.

She was about to rail out with a comment on the stupidity of the situation, but somehow her mood was just too good for her to follow through with the impulse.

Asuka looked over to her right. There was an empty stall between them, and she could see steam floating up from where Shinji was. Not only had he decided to make up, but also the natural order of things seemed to be back to normal. She had not liked this business of the First Child telling her what to do. She was a beautiful young woman with throngs of boys anxious to play suitor to her. Shinji should be hustling to earn her favor, and not the other way around.

A bell-like ding let Asuka know that she was done with the decontamination process.

"There! I've been run through the wash cycle fifteen times. I hope you're happy."

Dr. Akagi's voice came in over the loudspeakers. "Very good. Now I want both of you to walk to the remote plugs for the experiment."

"What! But there are cameras!" One of Asuka's fingers flew up to point at the object in question at the hall corner. "And a boy and a girl of our age shouldn't be forced into indecent exposure like this."

"We are on a limited time frame for keeping your bodies free of alien particles. The two of you will have to refrain from looking at each other. As for the cameras, we'll turn them off. We respect your privacy."

"That's not the point. We shouldn't… I mean…"

Misato Katsuragi's voice came over the speakers now. "Go to the remote plugs now, and don't peep. That's an order."

Asuka let out a 'Hmph!' and started to walk out. Shinji had been oddly quiet the whole time, which she found suspicious. Did he want to sneak a peek at her naked, and was therefore willing to go along with this? Was he just too embarrassed to speak up? She spared a glance over at the First Child.

Asuka clutched her hands around herself almost instinctively. "Ah! Baka hentai!" She jumped back into the stall. "He's got a boner!"

Shinji, who already had a blush, turned redder. His hands, which had been hovering awkwardly around his crotch, flew down to obscure the view of the offending part. The attention he perceived as being on him was going a long way in controlling any unsightly displays. "Sorry!"

Misato came on the speakers with a long-suffering sigh. "Shinji, you go first. Asuka, turn around and face the wall. Shinji, tell her when you reach the door and she can go."

**Scene Shift**

Misato released the button that activated the speakers in the decontamination hall. She turned back to Naoko. "Is this really necessary?"

"The point of the experiment is to establish a base, unaltered sync with the simulation plugs. Removing the suits is insufficient; we need them as free of germs and possible decontaminants as possible." Of course, the test was basically a moot point now. The exercise had been aimed specifically at getting Rei in the plug naked to ensure there were no unexpected complications with the dummy plug components when they came online. But since this was something that was being closely watched by the 'powers that be' over Nerv, Naoko was forced to follow through with the original schedule and attempt to extrapolate the likely results for the Second Children.

"The Sub-commander is going to be angry when she finds out."

"One of the few perks to the experiment." Misato looked disapprovingly at her friend. Naoko went back to her console. "Don't worry; I doubt she's in Japanese air space now anyway."

"The Sub-commander left again?"

"Yes. The Magi registered her as leaving in one of Nerv's private planes at 0810. It was fully fueled and has a scheduled stopover in the Hawaiian Islands."

"She's been traveling a lot lately."

Naoko nodded. She knew that one of Yui's trips had been to secure the Lancea Longinus, but the others were a mystery to her. She had managed to get the Magi to track down the last trip, which appeared to have been to North America. At the time she had put it down to whatever web of treachery surrounded Agent Ryoji, but now she wasn't sure. An Angelic attack had happened in America shortly after, one that simply had no reason for occurring. Of course Yui might be there to secure Rei, but the doctor had no way of knowing if that was the real reason. Naoko felt like something was going on behind her back, and all she had been able to figure out was where.

The pilots made it to the entry plugs, and started synchronization with the simulated bodies. A flood of data was processed by the Magi bio-computers. Several of the techs marveled at the speed that the test was being carried out with.

Naoko activated the audio link to the pilots. "Any problems?"

"It feels different." Shinji seemed to be searching for the words to describe what was off.

"My left arm feels strange." Asuka stated.

"Is it a compatibility issue?"

"No." They both called out the response at almost the same time.

Dr. Akagi glanced over at Maya. "Have Balthazar run a probability analysis for causes."

Maya nodded, and began typing. After a moment, she looked back up. "It will be three hours before the program has run its course. Do you want me to limit the parameters to try and get feedback before the test has concluded?"

Naoko pondered this for a moment. "No, we could do away with the absurd possibilities, but it would take longer to program what that would entail than any time we might save. Just leave the Magi to do the job under normal operating conditions."

**Scene Shift**

Shinji flexed the simulation body's fingers again, following the prompts from one of the staff. This test was taking forever. It was keeping him from facing Asuka or anyone else in the oversight room, which was just fine with him. He felt like crawling under a rock. That had been humiliating. And there was no telling how Asuka was going to react.

"Okay, now do it with the other hand."

Shinji complied, grabbing the control grip and concentrating on moving the giant's fingers. It was then that he felt something odd. Nothing about the whole synchronization had felt right, but this was different. It felt like his left side was starting to go to sleep on him. Shinji shuffled in his seat and rolled his shoulder, trying to get the blood flowing through his body.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I think I was just sitting funny. My arm was getting poor circulation."

No sooner had the words came out of his mouth than he felt a stab in the aforementioned arm. He gasped in pain. "What the Hell?"

Something was there, at the edge of his consciousness. It was making his head hurt. He thought that he could hear a train running along tracks in the distance.

It was then that his body betrayed him.

He started straining forward in his seat. Even though his arm was at rest and free to move, it felt as if it were glued in place. He cried out again, his body pulling with all the might it could muster. He felt as if his skin would tear off and be left in ragged shreds while the meat of his limb was free. As the arm strained with effort, he felt the same sensation along his back. It was like he was nailed to a wall, and despite the fact that he had no intention of hurting himself, his body was going to pull itself apart as it tried to rip away from the barrier that held it.

He was vaguely aware of people chiming in over the intercom. Asuka and Misato were shouting for him. He heard Dr. Akagi and some staff relaying orders. In front of him, mounted guns slid from various perches and started shooting lasers at him. Which seemed ridiculous to Shinji for some reason, but didn't stop it from being any more real.

Shinji closed his eyes against the ache, but it didn't stop. He sought solace anyway he could.

The weird sound of subway tracks was back. It didn't hurt as bad when he concentrated on that. He felt like he could see something now.

"Rei?"

Suddenly Shinji was pushed hard against his seat. A few air bubbles escaped his mouth as what felt like a giant hand shoved him down. It lasted for a handful of seconds, but it might have been an eternity by the way time seemed to pass. There was a moment when Shinji felt lighter, like when an elevator had reached a floor it was traveling up to. And then everything was back to normal.

The audio link came alive. "Shinji! Gotten himmel, answer me!"

"Asuka?"

"You idiot! Answer the damn prompts." There was a brief pause. "I've been calling you. Are you okay?"

"I think so. What happened?"

"I don't know. I saw circuits all along your simulation body before we were ejected."

**Scene Shift**

Commander Fuyutsuki gathered his thoughts. An Angel had taken the form of a nanite construct. It had invaded the Pribnow box before attacking the Magi. It attempted to program the Magi supercomputers into an autodestruct sequence. Naoko had stopped it cold, though for all his learning it seemed to him that she had delayed the Angel be shouting technical jargon at it. There had been an audible sigh of relief as the feminine voice that proclaimed an autodestruct sequence was in effect ceased. Which only left the intruder alarm.

"Downgrade the alert status. Report to all monitoring stations outside of Tokyo-3 that there was an error in our warning system."

One of the techs, Shigeru he thought his name was, looked up questioningly. "Sir?"

Kozo understood his reluctance. If there was a chance that the Geofront would self-destruct, it would mean a lot of lost lives. And that wasn't just Nerv personnel. An explosion of that magnitude might cause the entire city to fall through the outer layer of earth and into the cavern below. This could create a sinkhole that might threaten the shelters.

If he didn't cancel the red alert now though, he gave justification for the Committee to send people in. As more people entered Nerv, especially in these lower levels, it increased the chance that everything would be compromised. The secrets that were held within this facility could not be allowed to see the light of day if the human race was to live on.

"Carry out the order. Allow for the evacuation procedures to run their course locally, but alert everyone else that we had a technical slip-up."

"Yes, sir."

Kozo took a surreptitious glance of the room. His eyes fell on Naoko. She was not holding up well. Her face was still a snarl, and she was slightly red from her raised blood pressure. The anger in her voice as she had shouted orders during the last few minutes had left most of the technical staff leery of her. Fuyutsuki noticed the woman discretely wipe a thin string of saliva that had leaked out of her mouth.

'She's taking it too personal,' he thought. 'The Magi have been the largest part of her existence. Of course she sees this attack as an outrage. But how does she feel? Is she angry because having the Magi turn on her is the ultimate form of betrayal? Does she feel a motherly instinct to protect the organic computer? Or is it simply a personal affront because she perceives the computers as an extension of herself?'

It didn't matter. He needed to take her somewhere so that she could calm down. She wasn't in the right place mentally to defeat this Angel, even though she had stopped it for the moment, and her presence was making her staff anxious.

"Dr. Akagi. I need to speak with you for a moment, please."

Naoko looked up, and for a moment it seemed as if she was going to tell him off. She visibly controlled herself, and nodded. "Of course, Commander." She gave some instructions to Maya and walked quickly towards Kozo. He turned and the two walked out of the room. The two were quiet as they made their way down the hall, and into a nearby office.

"So, what is it?" Naoko was already tapping her foot, anxious to be about her business. "Sir," she quickly added.

"You may be too close to this matter to oversee it, Dr. Akagi."

"You're booting me off now?" Naoko laughed. "Fine, go ahead. Good luck with this Angel, Commander."

"That's not what I mean. But your anger may be clouding your judgment."

"I'm supposed to be happy with this Angel."

"It may be that you need to take something to calm your nerves."

"I know more things about the Magi than any other ten people combined. This is where the Angel has decided to strike us. I will put us all in peril by dulling my mind with any sedatives."

"Please, Naoko. Consider which is better."

Naoko considered this for a moment. She smiled tightly. "Tell me what you've been hiding, Commander?"

Kozo's eyes narrowed. "This is a time ill-suited to games. I'm the commander and I can order you to do what I say. Do not presume that such directives are open to a bartering system."

"Dammit, Kozo. Work with me. I'm tired of being alienated, and out of the loop. I'm sick of things being withheld from me."

Kozo sighed. "I'm not keeping anything from you, Dr. Akagi."

Naoko's face darkened for just an instant. It cleared, and she closed the distance between them.

"Naoko, what are…" His words ceased as his mouth was covered by hers. The shock of the action caused him to stand still for a moment. Fuyutsuki began to kiss back for just an instant, before shoving her away.

"See, there are things you are keeping from me, Kozo."

The Commander looked at her as if she had grown another head. "This degree of familiarity is unprofessional, Dr. Akagi."

"Is that such a problem for you, Kozo? Don't worry; I'll take something to calm down if it's needed. We've wasted too much time back here as it is. We should formulate a strategy for defeating this intruder."

Kozo stayed in the room as Naoko turned and left. Well, she did seem calmer. But Naoko's actions as of late were a worry to him. Perhaps the Angel attack was merely magnifying it, but Naoko was erratic and unstable. Her knowledge of the Magi could cripple this base if she became inclined to such notions.

**Scene Shift**

A black screen appeared in front of Shinji's face again. It proclaimed that he was speaking over an audio link only. "How long are we supposed to stay trapped in these freezing plugs anyway? What in the Hell is happening?"

Shinji shrugged out of habit. "I don't know. I haven't been able to raise anyone."

He rested a minute, letting the sound of waves gently lapping outside soothe him. The nerve impulses that had felt so much like his own, as opposed to stimuli from the simulation body, seemed more and more a memory with each passing moment.

"So, Shinji, I guess you must think I'm really pretty." Asuka drug out the last few words in a manner that was almost guaranteed to goad him.

Shinji blushed, before snapping back "You wouldn't know anything about it if you hadn't been looking."

"And you wouldn't have been like that if you hadn't been peeking."

"I didn't look until you screamed."

"I don't believe that for a second. You ogle all the time when you don't think you're noticed."

"What?"

"I've seen you looking around, Mr. Ikari. Sadly, you're like every other teenage boy I know. Your wandering eyes take in every flash of girl-flesh that they can. You try to be subtle and hide the fact, but it's obvious you're a pervert like the rest of them."

"You suck at making up, you know that?"

"Who says I'm trying to make up. You made me crawl on my belly in front of your mother, First Child. Don't think I'm letting that one go easy."

A silence invaded the plug, before Shinji spoke again. "Honestly Asuka. I didn't look."

"Like Hell you didn't."

"I'm not saying I didn't want to. But I didn't think it was right to do it like that. Not without…"

"Go on."

"Not without you knowing."

It was quiet for a moment, as Asuka seemed to digest what he said. Finally, she spoke up. "That's kind of sweet, Shinji. You're totally full of shit, but it was a nice sentiment."

"Oh, just get over yourself, Asuka. It's not like I…" There was a brief flash as the black screen in front of him was suddenly filled with pale flesh. There was little doubt as to who it was, as his mind immediately registered the auburn hair. Just as he started to look around for the more interesting bits of the image, it was suddenly gone.

Everything was quiet for a full minute. Finally Shinji asked, "Could I see that one more time?"

"Ha! Total pervert."

"Whatever. Seriously, do it again."

"Don't push your luck. Besides, I wouldn't think you would want another transmission without preparing yourself to put on a better presentation."

Shinji looked down, and for the briefest of moments considered whether the camera angle even allowed her to see 'that.' Such thoughts were lost in a wave of embarrassment, and despite the temperature in the plug, he immediately had a warm flush. Shyly he mumbled, "It's cold."

"I know that. I saw you at the hot springs, remember?"

Shinji blushed even harder. He was quiet for a moment before he chuckled lightly.

"What's funny?"

"Thermal Expansion."

**Scene Shift**

Lt. Shigeru looked to the office where the tactical options were being reviewed. Misato, Maya, Dr. Akagi, and Commander Fuyutsuki were reviewing their options. As far as he figured, there was just one: raze the Magi.

Makoto leaned over and spoke lowly to Aoba. "This really pisses me off. I get a date with the Major and then this crap happens. I hate these Angels."

"Yeah, if we have to physically destroy the super-computers, you can bet Misato won't be able to go to Megumi's wedding with you."

"Most of the guest list will be shot."

Shigeru smirked. "Yeah, a poor turnout for the wedding would be bad. But I have to tell you, this imminent death thing has me a lot more concerned."

Hyuga went back to checking the oscillation of the login mode. The computer was rewriting its operating language almost continuously, trying to stay ahead of the Angel's ability to hack it. "You know, I've always been able to shrug off questions concerning the nature of these bio-computers. Things like whether the Magi are alive and distinctive intelligences. I mean, we utilize the framework of a personality overwrite because programming and assembling distinctive neurons would take forever. You have to cheat and use a neural net, but only specific regions of the brain were deemed appropriate. I guess they've seen enough sci-fi movies to know the dangers of self-actualizing computers."

"You're sounding dangerously like Ibuki."

"I'm just trying to say that watching these computers reprogram themselves is eerie. When it changes its login mode, it is performing an alteration to its Operating System. I didn't know they were capable of that. I don't like it."

"I like it. It's kept the base from self-destructing." Aoba looked over at Makoto's screen to get a better view of what had the tech unnerved.

"Look here. This is an activity log of Balthazar and Caspar. They are running what looks like a randomization program, though they manage to stay in sync. If a self-destruct request is made by either of them, the program within the individual Magi system throws in a number to knock the randomization program out of sync. But it's this activity over here that bugs me." Makoto pointed out a bar on the screen to Aoba. "Caspar tried to initiate a series of firewalls without direction from an operator or contingency programming."

"Huh? Caspar tried to protect itself."

"Not only that, but Balthazar diverted what resources it could here to help." Makoto indicated another section. "It immediately destroyed the neural circuits by withholding organic support to the region."

"I'll bet it starved and smothered that section to keep the angel from having access to it later."

"There were operative fail safes that prevented that. They've been removed."

Aoba leaned forward now, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "The Angel?"

Hyuga shook his head. "This was done over a month and a half ago. I normally wouldn't know that, but certain level sensitive access restraints have been removed to help us stop the angel."

"Who could have done that?"

The two immediately snapped to attention as they heard staff coming onto the bridge. Major Katsuragi and Commander Fuyutsuki looked less than enthused. Lieutenant Ibuki and Dr. Akagi were their polar opposites, seeming to vibrate with energy.

Dr. Akagi was the one to speak up. "Alright people. This is the plan. We are going to hack the Angel. I will need you and you to go to storage and retrieve this box." Naoko scrawled something on a piece of paper and handed it to a man standing near to where she had entered. "Immediately. Meet me at the foot of the housing dais for Caspar." He and the person beside him immediately scurried off. The doctor turned back and indicated someone else. "You, I need four laptops. Be sure to secure my two personal notepads as well as Lt. Ibuki's." Naoko turned back and addressed Hyuga and Makoto. "You two, bring me up to status on the Angel's progress."

As Naoko had issued commands, Makoto had closed various programs on his computer. He still had two windows open, which he showed to the doctor. "At this rate the Angel will overtake the current target in thirty-six minutes. When Balthazar falls, Caspar will follow quickly. The exact amount of time is indeterminable, but if the Angel stays true to form it will overtake the last Magi and receive approval for a self-destruct prompt at slightly more than ten minutes past the moment it begins hacking Caspar."

"What is it that makes your timetable uncertain?"

Makoto pointed to the code log that showed where the Magi had tried to create their own barrier. As he did, something occurred to him. He had assumed that Balthazar had destroyed a small section of itself to keep the angel from having access to the information when it took it over. It seemed a trite effort given how easily the Angel had plowed through the staff's earlier attempts to turn it away. But what if the Magi where planning on that? What if the point was to get the Angel to concentrate on obliterating the firewall, thus drawing in a lot of its nanite circuitry, and then killing it with the section of the computer?

Was the computer trying to chop off its foot to save the body?

Hyuga turned to look at Naoko, who had been seemingly entranced by the screen. The look on her face wasn't what he had expected. A light smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she studied the display.

Naoko looked proud.

**Scene Shift**

"It's breaking through!"

Maya heard the urgent shout from Makoto. Her fingers were a whirl over the keyboard. "We can do it."

"Of course." Naoko called back self-assuredly from her spot within the housing. Misato's head spun back and forth between the two women.

"Maya?"

"Ready ma'am."

"On three. One… two… three!"

Maya and Naoko both hit the enter key on their laptops at the same instance. All was quiet for a moment. Then the annoyingly calm feminine voice that had been announcing the initiation of the self-destruct sequence declared that the self-destruct had been cancelled.

Shouts of celebration could be heard from all over the bridge. Misato crawled back out of the space she had shared with Naoko, and gave Maya a big grin.

"WHAT?" Naoko called out in surprise. Misato began to turn back and check on Dr. Akagi, but she was ushering her out. "Move it, Major. We're not done here yet."

The good cheer on the bridge immediately came to a halt.

Naoko scurried out quickly and began doling out orders anew.

"You three, secure me a magnetic trap from Lab 3. NOW!" The people she pointed at began to scurry off. Naoko turned to the next person. "Get me a larger cutting saw and a torch."

The Commander let her finish before he spoke up. "Dr. Akagi, what is it?"

"Caspar managed to secure a piece of the Angel and isolate it from the rest of the entity. Consequently, a small cell of nanites survived the purge."

"And what is the plan of action?"

"I am going to surgically remove the Angel before it can reconstruct itself."

"Do we have enough time?"

Naoko nodded even as she picked up one of the laptops from Maya. "The Angel replicates at an exponential rate. The reason it was such a nuisance was because of the volume of individually adaptive cells. It's now dealing with dead neural tissue where before it was specifically designed to hack active, functioning cells. With fewer possibilities to experiment with adaptation, it'll take the Angel longer to reconfigure to its new constraints. I plan on cutting out the whole section and isolating it within a magnetic field. The dead tissue will serve as a holding mechanism until we can get it in the magnetic trap."

Kozo pondered this for a moment. He didn't like it. They had just managed to defeat this Angel, and it seemed like they were giving it a second chance. On the other hand, the Angel had not shown any tendency to become airborne, though who knew what it was capable of. Still, he could see the benefits of isolating a self-replicating nanite. Study on that could yield tremendous scientific advances.

Assuming that Nerv could keep from getting its pockets picked again.

"Proceed."

Naoko took off to another access point in the Magi's housing that would bring her closer to the affected area. Even as she set about to work on her task, her mind raced.

Was this what all that business before with Balthazar and Caspar had been about? Had the Magi known the Angel would be defeated and taken the initiative to secure a specimen? Why?

Naoko had been encouraging autonomous function within the Magi system for some time now. But this course of action was not something she had foreseen. Had the computers taken an independent initiative to study the Angels? Or did the computers know their creator so well that they were anticipating her desires and catering to them?

Even as someone handed her a cutting saw, Naoko felt a bit of unease. Her creations were possibly aware of her, and doing what they could to help. She had programmed them with parts of her own personality.

No one knew her better. And no one could lash out at her as effectively.

**Scene Shift**

The audio link chirped on again. Shinji's voice came in over the speakers. "I don't think anyone's coming for us."

Asuka wailed in frustration. "Argh! Someone get me out of here! It's freezing."

**End Chapter**

**Author's notes:**

Hey, no whining this time. Huzzah!

I tried to do what I could to jazz up events. Hopefully this chapter didn't feel too much like a regurgitation of the show.

Sorry for the long delay. No elaborations; just wish I was writing faster for those that are interested in the story.

Criticisms and comments: let me have it. It all goes into consideration when I write.

Thanks for reading


	23. Scenario no Yui Chapter 23

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Eva.

**Notes: **First and foremost, let's get this out of the way. I suck. I am a rotten bastard for leaving this story alone for so long. I could thread together a lot of excuses as to why I was away from writing for that amount of time, but it still does not make me suck any less. Sorry doesn't even cover it.

I made some changes to the story. Heck, I had to refresh myself on the story. Yeah, it's been that long. The main change I made was to have Unit-01 be a derivative of Lillith, as it should be. I had this big fancy thing planned with Unit-01 being created from Adam. Yui and Kozo were going to be really clever and trick Seele, and I almost had the logistics worked out. But it ended up being too much a deviation of the series, and in the end what it would have taken to work it out logistically would have been cheesy. So, let's pretend I didn't screw that up.

And now, on with the show.

**Chapter 23**

Asuka beat on the bathroom door, clearly at the end of her patience. "Let me have my turn."

"I'm not done yet. How many showers do you have to take anyway?"

"I've got to fix myself again. I want to go over things since I had to change out of that kimono-obi thing."

"It's a yukata. And I told you last week that we were going to a Western-style wedding." Misato undid the lock and let the door open. She was in her towel; the drops of moisture and damp hair suggested she had just gotten out of the shower. Misato went back to the far end of the counter to let Asuka have some room in front of the mirror.

Asuka reached up and rubbed her hand across the glass to get the steam off that was a result of Misato's shower. The older of the two scowled. "If you streak that you'll have to clean it."

"So, do you think the store will take it back?"

"The yukata? Keep it. You can look at cherry blossoms or fireworks or something like that in it."

"Oh yeah, that doesn't sound cheese-ball."

"So you wouldn't want to go somewhere with Shinji and do that?"

Asuka grabbed a towel and wiped the mirror again. "It's hard to keep the glass from fogging up when the room is constantly filled with hot air." Asuka sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to make her banes feather. "You know, it would be nice if I actually went on a date with him before I had to hear all this sheiss."

Misato went back to looking at her face in the mirror. After a moment she spied Asuka's hand easing over to her side of the counter. "Stop right there."

"Come on, Misato. Let me wear some of your Blue Lavender."

"You're not old enough for that kind of perfume yet."

"Oh sure. It's okay to go out and fight ten-story monsters, but perfume. Oh no, that's a little too much."

Misato stared levelly at Asuka in the mirror. The redhead returned her gaze for a long time, not batting an eyelash. "You can have a little. And don't think you can guilt trip me into anything else; this is a one time thing."

Asuka snatched the bottle up quickly, and Misato spared a look at the clock in the hall. "Oh. Makoto and Shinji will be here in fifteen minutes. We need to hurry."

**Scene Shift**

The clack of heels could clearly be heard tapping out a steady, frustrated rhythm in front of the waiting terminal. There was a large window to the side of the building. Yui would normally have been able to enjoy a view of the runway and the lush, tropical paradise just past it. The whole square kilometer or so that was left after flooding and paving had claimed the rest Hawaii anyway.

The recent rain had caused a panic, and special tarps had been pulled over every window. The windows had been sealed shut. In addition, passengers were warned from standing too close to the exterior walls of the airport. Emergency quarters had been erected past a second, hastily constructed wall to offer the pretense of protection.

She marveled at the stupidity of it. Like so many of the other things, it was a precaution that was put in place to give the feeling of safety as opposed to actual security. If radioactive rain were to come in, there would be no stopping it with particleboard and plywood.

The current situation arose when the Americans had attempted to stop the Tenth Angel while it was still over the Pacific Ocean. The attempt failed, and contaminated parts of the upper atmosphere were slowly depositing to the earth below. For the most part rain was flushing the radioactive debris out. To date the vast majority of radioactive contaminates had fallen into the ocean. That was a whole different set of problems, but at least it wasn't an immediate danger. The cloud had spread, and now Hawaii was expecting a storm with high levels of radioactive rain.

Which meant Yui was stuck. It felt almost conspiratorial, considering the nature of her mission. Her jet should have missed the storm cell entirely, but the recent atmospheric upheaval from the blast had caused a shift in the jet stream that had not been accurately predicted. She needed to get Rei out of Nerv's Second Branch quickly. The Base Commander had delayed Rei's transfer back home. Not only did she not appreciate the stonewalling from a political view, but the fact that these people were trying to use her daughter as a game piece really pissed her off.

'Because you're the only one who gets to do that,' an accusing voice in her mind added.

She thought of shutting the voice out, but didn't. She felt guilty, and truth be told, Yui Ikari had a lot of reason to feel that way. No one who played the big game kept clean hands.

She sighed, and eased her pacing a bit. Indulging in loathing and self-pity would help no one. There was nothing to be done for how things were. For the thousandth time she damned the prophecies, Evas, and Seele. And she damned herself.

'Don't. You don't get to be this way. Shinji and Rei, Kozo and Gendo, and the planet in general need better from you. Get a grip, Yui.'

She decided to call back and check in with Headquarters, when something else occurred to her. She had another problem she needed to fix.

Yui pretended to stumble as she walked, and subsequently recover. She tugged on her shoe, letting her finger slide out a piece of paper that had been between the bottom of her foot and her shoe sole. She let the scrap of paper rest between two of her fingers, being sure to keep it out of sight to any cameras that might be following her. She checked her watch, and made sure to wait fifteen minutes before heading off to a restroom. When she did finally go, Yui checked all the stalls, waiting for a moment alone. Then she clicked the lock on the main entrance to the bathroom.

She held her cell phone up, walking around in the slim hopes that she would pick up a signal. There was a tower nearby, but who knew what kind of interference she was getting, both from the atmosphere in general and around the barricaded airport in particular. Finally, a few reception bars popped up.

Yui dialed the number that was on the paper. After three rings, someone picked up.

"Yes?"

"Joshua Christian?"

"Ms. Ikari. What a pleasure it is to have you call on me."

"I need some contact information."

**Scene Shift**

Awareness was a fleeting thing. Rei Ikari could almost remember what it was like to do something other than drift. The idea flickered through her mind, brought on by a passing train.

She looked in and saw her own face staring back from one of the train cars. Fear filled the large, red eyes that stared into the blackness outside.

That stared into her world.

She should be angry. That girl had stolen too much from her. But she couldn't bring herself to feel much of anything. Ennui gripped her, and though she knew there were reasons for her to return, to get inside of that box car, she couldn't remember what they were.

She remembered pain and frustration and loathing.

Feeling nothing was preferable to feeling that.

The train went past, and she turned away from the rails it rode upon.

"Rei."

At least that's what she thought she had heard at first. But maybe the voice had said "Me." The sound had not been loud, but even though she was sure she had heard it, she felt it was coming from somewhere far away.

Rei began to move through the darkness, searching for the thing that called to her.

**Scene Shift**

There was a soft whir as the fan activated to cool down the electronic equipment around him. Kelvin Wisdom, the commander at Nerv's Second Branch, paid it little heed as he studied the holographic screen in front of him. Kozo Fuyutsuki stood within a circle of black obelisks, proclaiming what was obviously a bold-faced lie.

"There was a malfunction in the Angel-warning system. Nerv was not invaded by an Angel."

'Good God, he can't be serious,' Kelvin thought. 'He'll never get away with this.'

"Lying to this committee is a crime punishable by death."

Kozo stood firm, his face relaxed. The fact that he was so nonchalant was an obvious tell to Kelvin, but one did not accuse people of being guilty because they did not look guilty enough.

"Nevertheless, there was no Angel."

Seele-03 spoke up now. It was the French guy. Kelvin always thought of him as the stater-of-the-obvious. He had been in enough of these meetings to get a feel for several of his compatriots; though Keel was the only member of the current council whom he had met face-to-face.

"Your lies are preposterous. You should be eliminated for your audacity."

"It is time for a new hand to guide the Eva program."

Kozo raised an eyebrow. "Am I being fired?"

The silence was tense, and stretched on for several small eternities.

Kozo was the one to break the quiet. "That's a pity. The response time to repelling Angelic attacks has not increased by the margin I would have liked. I should have endeavored to make the process even more streamlined. It is my failing as commander. I can say that such shortcomings did not affect some of the other charges I had. The Instrumentality Project was coming along well under my guidance."

"Commander Fuyutsuki. Are you threatening the work of this group?"

"No. I was merely making an assessment of my job performance in the face of criticism."

Seele-01 spoke up. "At this time we will accept the possibility of a system malfunction. However, this is only contingent of a follow-up examination of Nerv's electronics by a third-party staff that will arrive at the Tokyo-3 base shortly. A handful of additional investigators will accompany them."

Kozo nodded, still apparently relaxed. "I will do my utmost to accommodate these visitors."

"You will do your utmost to make sure everyone has their story straight."

Though the tone of menace from Seele-05 seemed to be directed at Kozo, there was an undercurrent of criticism for the fact that Lorenz was giving notice of a surprise inspection. The only time someone did that was when they wanted the target of the inspection to pass scrutiny.

Commander Wisdom stared at the black rectangle of Seele-01 quizzically, as if the abstract projection might give some indication of the speaker's thoughts. 'I know enough of how events are unfolding to know that protecting Fuyutsuki would run contrary to your plans. What are you thinking, Keel?'

"My staff is already in agreement. This is because events occurred just as I described. You may question them today if necessary. Is that acceptable? Shall I ask one of them into our meeting?"

"That will be unnecessary. We will stick to our current timetable for such matters. This meeting is adjourned."

One of the members slipped in a last remark. "Step carefully, Commander Fuyutsuki."

The projection of the room was gone in an instant. For a moment, Kelvin sat in a dark room, staring at the vast empty space that had so recently projected their meeting room. He heard the holo-projection machine whir again, and the void was suddenly occupied by the looming monolith of Seele-01.

"What is the status of your pilots, Commander Wisdom?"

"The Second Child is still in a coma. The Fourth seems to have stabilized his general personality, and is learning as quickly as a level three candidate can. He will never become a peer to the other three Children, but he is capable enough in the entry plug."

There had been some concern when Kensuke Aida had arrived that he was receiving too much of a system shock. He had never had his mental reserves tested against serious stress. He had been isolated from his peer group, both in person and through most conventional correspondences. The Fourth Children had suddenly received a vast well-store of classified knowledge, and the boy seemed eager to share all of it. For security reasons, he was now limited to writing letters, which were checked and censored. He had suddenly been plunged into a situation where his life was at stake. This was a tough mix for any person, much less a boy going through the insane hormonal mix of early adolescence.

Pilot Aida had matured, and some of his boundless enthusiasm was now replaced by introspection. All things considered, the boy was handling it well.

"What do you think of your fellow commander?"

"He's trying to cover up a lie by bullying. I can't believe he's that stupid. Perhaps he has a death wish."

"One of the worst things that can be done for a martyr is to allow the belief that self-sacrifice will achieve his goal."

Kelvin mulled that over. "So, you do think self-annihilation is a possibility?"

"Perhaps. If not, it's what he wants me to think. I should go forth with the assumption, if for no other reason that to see what his angle is. He may have simply been so desperate that he would have used any lie regardless of how refutable it might be."

"If self-destruction is his goal, how can he be stopped?"

"One does not attack suicidal nobility head on. One takes care of it by determining the thing that is loved most and threatening it. Fortunately for us, such a thing is delivering itself to you."

"What do you mean?"

"Vice Commander Ikari is coming to the Second Branch soon. I want you to detain her."

"I would advise against such a course of action. Kozo is proving unstable. If we do that, he'll turn it into an international incident. For all we know this is what he wants. Perhaps he knows there is a conspiracy to take Headquarters out from under him and desires people outside of Seele's control to be put in charge."

There was a pause as Lorenz considered what had been said. "You're wrong. He may have something else planned, but he would not risk Yui Ikari."

"You're so sure of his affections?"

"Yes."

"So you still wish for me to detain her? Whose jurisdiction should I use?"

"That will become clear soon enough. First, be sure that Adam is sent back to Japan. I want it clear of U.S. borders before she's in the air again. Afterwards, I want you to prepare a media package to be slipped through anonymous channels to the press. Let them see pirated video footage of the last battle. In particular, let a picture or two of the Fourth Children slip out."

"This is a dangerous proposition. There is already a public backlash for the last Angel attack, and that's with the partial radioactive fallout that is to come. We can't afford to inflame them further. This could become a human rights issue."

"Believe me in this. It suits our purposes for this to happen."

**Scene Shift**

Shinji checked to his left to make sure Asuka was watching the stage, before sneaking a glance just past her. He couldn't believe how good the women at his work looked when they dressed up.

He hissed quickly as he felt a sudden pain at the top of his thigh.

Asuka looked at him, batting her eyes innocently.

Shinji figured he needed to say something, but didn't want to interrupt the karaoke act on the stage. So he leaned in to whisper. "You're the prettiest girl in here."

She smiled, but was still able to hold scorn in her voice. "You say that now..." Her gaze flickered to where he had been staring, and she immediately turned forward and sat straighter in her chair. Shinji looked to see Misato glaring at them before he turned to give the stage his full attention.

As soon as the singing was done, and the bride and groom were acknowledged, the lights came back on again. Asuka, it seemed, was ready for a cultural commentary.

"You know, I go out and buy this nice yukata, expecting a full blown Shinto wedding, and what happens? They have it in a church. They read from Second Corinthians in English. English!"

Misato, who was sitting to Asuka's left, gave an evil glare again. "Would it kill you to talk a little more quietly? Because I know if you get much louder I will."

"I wasn't that loud, Misato. No one else heard me."

Misato's eyebrow twitched slightly as she continued to stare at Asuka.

"Humph. Fine. We'll be obedient children."

Asuka waited for Misato to turn back to the people on the other side of her. Under her breath she said, "I don't know who she thinks she is." With her voice still low, but louder than before she talked to Shinji again. "I really wanted to see a Shinto wedding."

Shinji smiled as he looked around the room. "At least it's a Japanese reception. We get to be entertained and fed."

Asuka wrinkled her nose again, turning it up slightly. "And all free of charge, except for the huge sums of money that the guests have to donate."

Shinji and Asuka had come to the wedding with Makoto Hyuga and Misato. When she had asked about the envelopes they were carrying, Makoto had explained that it was traditional to give the bride and groom a financial present to start their new life. In return, they new couple would throw a nice wedding reception. Usually there was singing, food, an open bar, and a lot of speeches. Tonight's reception was supposed to feature dancing as well.

Asuka had been particular angered by the amount that Shinji was giving on behalf of his absent mother.

Almost as if she were having the same memory as he, Asuka looked at the envelope in Shinji's pocket.

"One hundred thousand Yen."

"Mom is their boss. She is expected to donate a larger sum than most."

"Yeah, but Misato just gave thirty thousand. That's a ridiculous sum already. This culture is screwed up."

Someone got up on stage to announce that dinner was being served. People were welcome to eat and visit, and stop by the bar, before the bride and groom cut the cake.

"You want to give them the envelope?"

Asuka shook her head. "But I like this tendency of yours to turn loose of money. You will make an excellent date."

Asuka turned around as she sensed the other side of the table getting quiet. Most of the bridge crew was there. Aoba Shigeru and Maya Ibuki were on the end, with Makoto Hyuga and Misato sitting closer to her and Shinji. The group was stealing glances at a blonde woman who was walking to another table.

Asuka lowered her voice to a whisper again. "Who is that?"

"Dr. Akagi's daughter, I think. I didn't know her well, but there hasn't been that many blondes around the Eva cages. She used to work at Nerv." Shinji could talk all night like this. There was something about leaning in and talking to Asuka this way that made him feel, well... happy. And excited.

Asuka looked back at the other four people at the table. "I take it she didn't leave on good terms."

Shinji shrugged. "Sor..." He stopped his words quickly, starting again in a hurry to cover his blunder. "I don't know. No one really talked about it while I was around."

Asuka looked back to the table with covered dishes at the far end of the room. "Well, let's leave those guys to their little dramas. I'm starved. You should already be fixing me a plate."

**Scene Shift**

"Who are you?"

Had Rei asked that, or the other voice? She didn't know. She could feel something all around her, but it wasn't something she could touch.

"I don't know. I am me."

Again, she wasn't sure if the words were coming from her and echoing somewhere else, or if she talking to something close by that was echoing her words back.

Was she even talking? With her mouth?

She started to have memories. On some level, they felt like hers, but they weren't. A man, his hair curly and dark, loved her. The emotion was strong; it was the last piece of hope in a world of desolation. It was the end of the good times. She clung to it dearly.

That feeling had been born of loathing and sadness. The same feeling that had birthed this beautiful emotion, this feeling of security, would also give rise to the man's, not to mention her own, destruction.

"Who are you?" Again, the words felt like they might be coming from within herself or from outside of her. Rei couldn't tell.

She could distantly remember birthing. The later births had been easier, but the first was difficult. The pain was incredible, magnified to an even greater extent for having experienced Paradise. And the love she had for the child overwhelmed her as she held it in her arms.

Were all the memories bittersweet? Was there not one moment of happiness that was free of pain?

Was that all life was? Did a person just exchange pain in equal portions to the happiness they wanted to have later? Was the universe some grand, karmic bartering system?

The voice came from within her, though Rei knew this time it was not hers. "We always want to place an order to things. There is none. The universe is merely chance, save for the instances when we can tame it. And that sphere of influence is small."

"Are you me?"

"I am you and me."

"Are you the girl from the train?"

"Yes."

Rei felt anger. It almost startled her; it had been so long since she felt anything really. She was over that quick enough. "You stole my soul, you little bitch."

Rei's anger faded quickly. "All the same. We are all the same. If she is a thief, then so are we."

"Are you... the other clones?"

"I am the source and my offspring are me. I am the mother."

**Scene Shift**

Aoba noticed Maya's gaze as she followed Shinji and Asuka's progress to the food table. Maya beamed and turned to her two co-workers.

"It's so sweet that the two of them are here together."

Makoto smirked as he leaned into the conversation. "It seems that if you parade a couple of teenagers in front of each other naked, they start thinking seriously about dating."

Maya turned her head to hide her blush, while Aoba scowled at Hyuga. The latter paid his tablemates no mind. He had already turned back to watch Misato talking to Ritsuko.

"Why didn't you go over there with her?"

Makoto waved a hand. "Oh no. Misato said she needed a moment alone with her. I'm willing to comply."

Maya looked on warily.

Aoba leaned back into the table, almost huddling with his co-workers. In a low voice he asked, "What is Dr. Akagi's daughter doing here?"

"It's a free country, guys."

**Scene Shift**

"What the Hell are you doing here?"

Misato spoke the words under her breathe. She had a forced smile on her face, but looked around warily as she spoke.

"I'm here to wish the bride and groom well, of course. I liked Megumi while she was working under me."

"Dammit Ritsu, you know the repercussions of testing the security ban." Even as she said it Misato looked to the door. A pair of Section Two agents was watching the women. Misato met one of the men's stare; he refused to turn away. They wanted her to know she and Ritsuko were under surveillance.

"Really. I guess I shouldn't have been talking with Tatsugi about Super-Solenoid Theory then."

"This is no time to be a smartass, Ritsu."

Ritsuko looked at Misato, trying to convey sincerity in her gaze. "I know what I'm doing, Misato. You don't have to worry about me." There was a slight pause. "But thanks."

**Scene Shift**

Mana looked through the peephole in her door, and sighed. It was Rei again. Ayanami or Ichigo, she wasn't sure. Neither one of them were certain about the name it seemed. As she watched, the girl shuffled in place, and reached over to knock again. Rei paused, and rested her hand against the doorframe instead. She looked nervous.

For a brief moment Mana considered ignoring her. Everything surrounding Rei was tense. The girl acted strange, and security watched her like she was about to snap and kill everyone, though Rei had never seemed particularly dangerous to Mana. When Rei had visited her briefly the other day there had been two interrogations to see what the girls had talked about.

Rei's lip quivered a little, and that sealed the deal for Mana Karishima. She couldn't just leave her out in the hall like that. She turned the knob.

Rei smiled. "Mana, it is good to see you. May I enter?"

"Please come in."

Mana had a studio apartment. To one side was her bedroom area, and to the other was a kitchen/living room. Rei skipped over to the couch.

"When you have bad dreams, how do you make them stop?"

Mana paused on her way to the refrigerator. "I'm not sure. They fade with time, I guess. A little while after I wake up, I forget about most of what I was dreaming anyway. Would you like something to drink?"

Rei nodded, but didn't specify anything. Mana decided to go with a cola. It was almost a luxury item on base, but she thought Rei could use a distraction.

"I have been having a dream. Well, not a dream, but close."

"A nightmare?" Mana hazarded a guess at the word Rei was looking for. She took a seat on the other side of the sofa.

"That too. Anyway, someone is stalking me. She hates me, and she wants to be me. Or herself again. I don't know how to say it." Rei paused as she took a sip of the drink. Her face lit up and she clutched the can with both hands, turning it up greedily. As soon as she was done she graced Mana with a rapturous smile. "That was really good."

"One of my few vices. Rei, I want you to confide in me if you need to. Heaven knows I don't get to see anyone else even close to our own age except for the boys, and you're even more isolated than me. But you should be aware that the higher ups question me about what we talk about."

"Did they interrogate you?" Mana nodded, and Rei continued. "Did they make you smoke cigarettes?"

"Umm… no."

"If they offer, don't do it."

"I'll be careful of that."

"What if our existence is only at the detriment of another? What if those waiting in the Hall of Gaf are merely souls you destroy in order to make your own? People like to think its reincarnation, but I don't think it is. I think the souls get looted, like worn out car engines that still have a few good parts."

"There's never a dull moment with you, girlie. But there sure are a lot of confusing ones." Mana looked at Rei helplessly. "I'm not sure I know what you mean. I'm not familiar with a Gaf."

Rei shrugged. "It doesn't matter. It's empty now anyway."

"I wish I knew something to say here, Rei. But seriously, I'm out of my depth. I'm not a philosopher, or particularly religious."

"It's okay. I don't know what's going on either. When I do know, I can't find the words to say it. Talking and confiding new experiences for me." Rei lit up again, becoming decidedly happier. "So, there are boys on the base? I would like to meet them. I wonder if they are like Shinji."

"Who?"

"I'm not sure either. So, who are they?"

Mana sighed. "I'm pretty sure if you haven't been told already, I'm not supposed to say anything." Rei looked at her with wide, puppy-dog eyes. "Oh Rei, don't use that on me again."

Rei looked away dejectedly. Almost whispering, she said "Okay."

Mana let her head fall back onto the couch cushion, and swore under her breath. Louder, she spoke. "Keita and Musashi."

Rei had her hands on her knees, and was sitting closer to Mana now. "What are they like?"

"You really should ask someone if I'm even cleared to talk about them before I say much else."

"So, the old blonde lady is okay with me knowing about the giant robot thing, but boys are too classified?"

"That's a good point. But still, I can't. Sorry."

Rei looked off wistfully. "Hmm… boys."

**Scene Shift**

"Let's dance." Asuka drug Shinji from his seat. Their now empty plates still sat at the same spot on the table. A band on stage was playing something with a catchy beat.

Makoto stared wistfully at Misato, who was still hanging close to Ritsuko. Aoba and Maya exchanged worried glances a few feet from their coworker.

"You should ask him to dance."

Maya looked at Aoba wide-eyed. "What?"

"He's obviously pining for the Major. If she were to see that she didn't have a secure hold on him…"

"I just… I don't… I mean…"

"You would be behaving like a really good friend for him."

Maya's cheeks were colored, but she nodded at length.

"You're… okay. I mean, I'm supposed to be your date."

Aoba rolled his eyes. "You know I think you're great, Maya. But I have enough drama in my life without dating the people I work with. Well, not like this," he indicated the space between them, "but like he wants." Aoba finished by giving a nod towards Makoto. "Besides, someone needs to keep close to the Children. Asuka has been gesturing towards the bar, and I know Shinji won't stop her from trying to swipe a drink."

"They're good kids. I don't think you should worry."

"They're teenagers. I'm absolutely right to worry. Now, go dance."

Maya blushed as she approached Lt. Hyuga. He seemed to only become aware of her at the last minute. "Ibuki?"

"I was going to see…" Maya's blush deepened a little, and she seemed caught on a word.

Makoto stared at her for a moment, before something finally clicked in his brain. "You want to dance."

"Yes."

Makoto led her out, and they started doing simple movements to the beat. Maya felt ridiculous.

"It's okay. We're by no means cool, but everyone else looks just as dorky."

Maya kept on. But she did not like this. People turned and looked, and she felt self-conscious. How could anyone think this was fun? The song seemed like it was never going to end.

And then, finally, it was over.

Maya was relieved, and eager to return to the table. She said some pleasantry as Makoto thanked her, and almost ran into Misato and Ritsuko as she turned around.

Misato grabbed Makoto by the hand and led him back out to the dance floor. "You're not done."

Maya found that as she moved away, Ritsuko stayed with her. The blonde didn't speak until they were away from the dance floor.

"I didn't like shaking my assets and being on display for everyone. I'm guessing you don't like being out there much."

Maya shook her head.

"You're so demure. Mom must really love it." Ritsuko grabbed a cigarette and placed it between her lips. "I am correct in thinking that she chose you as the surrogate daughter."

"We shouldn't talk about this. Excuse me."

Ritsuko placed a hand on Maya's shoulder. She leaned in, whispering so that no one else could hear. "I don't hold it against you. Just don't let her meddle in your personal affairs. See you around."

Ritsuko pulled back, and walked up to another group of people who immediately tensed when they saw her.

Maya went back to the table. The bottom of her stomach felt warm, and it was fluttering like she was nervous. She took a drink from her glass, hoping to calm her insides down.

She looked to Makoto. Perhaps that was all worth it if it made him happier with the Major. She saw that they were in the middle of a slow song. Misato suddenly froze. Her gaze locked with someone across the room, and Maya followed her gaze. She almost choked on her drink as the shock of who she was seeing set in.

Kaji Ryoji was leaning against the wall.

**Scene Shift**

The bathroom door flew open and two figures went flying in. Ryoji's head was slammed into the counter top beside the sink with a noticeable thud. He rebounded off and fell on his hands and knees on the floor.

He rubbed his head, and slowly began to rise. There was a smirk on his face as he looked towards his assailant. "You were always rough Misato, but I think…"

He was cut off by another hard slap. Blood splattered the floor, and he felt something hard press into his forehead.

"I just need a little excuse. Go ahead Kaji, push your fucking luck."

He could feel the welt on his cheek starting to swell already. He dared not make a move.

Makoto had come in behind Misato. He was supposed to be watching the door, but when he saw just how angry she was he laid a hand on her shoulder. "Major."

Misato gained control of her anger. This was too big to mess up. "What are you doing coming here, Kaji?"

"Honestly?"

Misato cocked the gun.

"I don't know how, but I've been compromised. By the time I realized that this was a bad meet, Section Two had already made me. I figured I would enjoy the party before the torture and interrogation."

"What's going on?"

'Dammit.' The worse person that could have caught them was in the door. This was going to be hard. "Leave, Asuka."

"Like that's going to happen." Her voice trailed off before becoming excited. "Kaji? Misato, what in the Hell are you doing to Kaji? Get away from him." Makoto blocked Asuka from running further into the bathroom. He was rewarded with several swift kicks.

"Tell her. Tell your charge that you pulled the power and ran. Tell her that you left her to fight the Angel by herself. You remember; the one that damn near killed her in an acid bath. TELL HER!"

"Shut your damn mouth, you bitch. Get that gun away from his head."

At that point a pair of security agents entered. Several heads could be seen peering into the door. "Out of respect for the couple, we wanted to avoid a scene."

Asuka looked as if she were going to explode. Kaji quickly said, "Of course. I believe we can all be professional."

Misato lowered her gun. The tension in the room eased slightly.

For some people.

"Fuck off. I've had to hear this bullshit on Kaji for weeks now, and I am not watching him being beaten and arrested for it." Asuka stared at Kaji, angered again by the blood easing down his cheek. "They can't get away with this. No one's going to hurt you, Kaji. I won't pilot, and I'll tell Shinji not…"

"Hush, Asuka. I did it."

Asuka was silent, and then laughed nervously. "That's what I would say to if someone were threatening to kill me."

"No, I did it."

"You sabotaged Nerv during an Angel attack?"

Kaji nodded.

"You kidnapped some nameless person that wasn't seen on base before or after? Christ, do you know how ridiculous that is to even say?"

Kaji searched Misato's face, surprised by the amount of information Asuka had. It seemed she didn't know about the clones, but still it was a surprising amount of detail. "That's about the sum of it."

"You cut the power during an Angel attack, and then removed my back-up. You subdued Shinji and Rei."

Kaji sighed. He tried to look nonchalant. "You've always been such a crack pilot. I knew you could handle it, Asuka."

**Scene Shift**

Shinji waited outside the bathroom, sweating and nervous. Shinji and Asuka had been dancing, when Asuka had suddenly took off for the toilet. He had puzzled over that for a moment, before deciding Asuka must have been having girl problems. He still found all the mechanics of the female body a little freaky. All he really knew to do was be a nice guy. But the date had probably just gone to Hell.

And then the security guards had entered the bathroom after Asuka.

"This can't be good," he muttered.

It wasn't long before Asuka burst out. The door swung open and rebounded fast, not giving Shinji much time to see what the problem was. Several people were staring at the sudden outburst. Shinji ran quickly to Asuka.

"What's wrong?"

Asuka never turned to face him. "I'm going home."

Shinji kept pace beside her, following her out of the building.

"Asuka, what happened?"

She turned. "Get away from me. I don't need you."

She stomped forward again, going through the entryway and outside.

Shinji was stunned for a moment, before running to get in front of her in the parking lot. "Tell me what…"

That was as far as the boy got before Asuka landed a punch in his chest. He staggered back, dazed by the sudden blow. He was pushed, and fell onto his backside.

"You're just some horny little boy. I HATE YOU!"

Asuka kicked him, hard. He felt pain shoot up his arm. She pulled her leg back to kick again, and Shinji scrambled back out of the way and onto his feet. "What's the matter with you?"

In response, Asuka tried to hit him again. She struck his arm as he blocked the blow. Shinji ducked in, and held her arms to her side. Asuka started shouting. "I HATE YOU! I HATE THAT BITCH, MISATO! I HATE THE DAMN EVAS! I HATE THE ANGELS. I HATE EVERYTHING!"

Shinji let a little slack into his grip, and Asuka shrugged him off with a roar. She turned and stomped off, walking in the direction of her apartment. Shinji followed, keeping his distance. What in the world was he supposed to do? Asuka had flipped in a big way.

'I'll make sure she's okay.' He thought. 'When she's safe at home, I can call Misato and see what we need to do.' He wished he hadn't left his cell phone back in his jacket at the wedding reception. 'But I can't leave her now. Who knows if she'll run off or what she'll do?'

Asuka turned and yelled at him. It happened several times while he followed her. Sometimes it would be insults, or curse words, or even incoherent bellows. But it was always full of rage.

He followed her up to the apartment. He was thankful that she decided to take the stairs. The elevator would have been tricky.

She whirled on him one last time as he followed him into the hallway that led to her apartment.

"Never come near me again."

She ran to the apartment. She opened the door, and closed it again. He heard the lock click.

Shinji sat on the ground. How had this happened? There had to be something he could do. What was the right thing? He knew there was an action he could take, something that hadn't occurred to him yet that would make things right between Asuka and him again.

He sniffled. "Great. Just like a little kid." He wiped some of the moisture from his eyes, and sat outside the door. He heard the sounds of destruction coming from within the building. Shinji tried to work through the feeling of self-loathing and worry he felt and come up with an answer. But he couldn't.

**Scene Shift**

Ritsuko stopped Misato and the Section Two agents as they escorted Kaji out the building, retracing the steps Asuka had taken fifteen minutes before them.

"You are to release Ryoji Kaji into to my custody."

Misato's eyes narrowed. "Fat chance of that, Dr. Akagi."

"I have the authorization for this transfer."

Misato looked at Ritsuko as if she had grown another head. "What?"

"Ryoji Kaji is my resposiblity under Article 73 of the mutual defense clause of 2010."

"That's the charter that established Nerv."

Ritsuko nodded. She pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to one of the men with Misato. "I have signatures on this document from the members of the oversight committee that empower me to take action in regard to the training, utilization, and disciplining of personnel contained within that charter, as well as other powers with regards to the deployment of resources for global defense. I am willing to wait while someone confirms the authorization contained in my papers."

The man immediately scurried off.

Misato was almost hissing when she looked at Ritsuko. "What are you doing? Are you with the people we are fighting?"

"It's still me, Misato."

"We are defending humanity against monsters, using everything from children to alien technology we don't understand. And in the middle of all of this, we find there are people trying to sabotage us. They kill personnel and steal from us. It was bad enough when I thought it was just this fink," Misato nodded towards Kaji, who was remaining silent, "but you, Ritsuko."

Ritsuko looked at the men remaining with Misato. She seemed to weigh something in her mind, and finally decided to speak. "Nerv isn't what it seems, Misato. You don't know what all is going on."

"How long have you been playing me, Ritsu? How long have you been using our friendship as a way to keep tabs on Nerv?"

"I've always been your friend, Misa-chan."

The agent that had left returned, giving the papers back to Ritsuko. "Dr. Akagi is to be allowed custody of Mr. Kaji."

Misato's hand itched to pull the gun again. She couldn't let this go.

Kaji never looked up as he followed Ritsuko out to her car. He knew when it was a bad idea to antagonize people. And he knew he had been within a breath of meeting his end. He still didn't have enough of the truth, and wasn't ready to be done with this world.

The two enterred the car, and Ritsuko wasted no time leaving. Kaji opened her glove box and looked around for some wipes. He found a pack. He pulled some out and began dabbing his cheek where the blood was still oozing.

"Why did you do it, Kaji?"

Ritsuko seemed tired. She looked older. Kaji pressed the tissue against his wound.

"I was tricked. I didn't know this was a Nerv function."

"Dammit. I did not want to tip my hand. Now when I enter Nerv again I will be seen as an enemy. It's going to make things that much harder."

"I'm sorry for that. But thank you, Ritsuko. You saved me."

Ritsuko nodded. "Well, they only discovered what they would have known in a week."

**Scene Shift**

Yui knew something was wrong before the Lexus had come within a half of a mile of the base. She had wanted to feel righteous as she entered the Second Branch. She was going to get Rei. She needed all of her steel to face down these Americans. This was a bureaucratic matter, and perceived power was the coin of the realm.

There were protesters all around the area close to the Second Branch. That could be expected to some extent; whatever happened, someone always disagreed with it. But this group was huge. And angry.

"Driver, please tell me what is going on."

"It's a demonstration, ma'am."

"Thank you. That was enlightening."

A bottle smashed into the side of the car. If it had been normal glass, it would have shattered the window beside Yui's head. Men in camouflage fatigues were standing watch around the perimeter of the base. The car sped for them and then through the military perimeter. Inside that barrier there were few people to be found. The vehicle made good time as it progressed toward a building in the center of the compound.

A soldier got the door for her, and shielded Yui as she went to the building in a quick run.

"Is this normal for the Second Branch?"

The soldier shook his head. He relaxed a bit as they walked into the building. "That's the problem, ma'am."

Yui looked to where the man was pointing. A television was on one of the news networks. It was showing video footage of Pilot Aida ejecting from the back of Eva Unit-03. The news caster was speaking animatedly, and the scrolling marquee at the bottom was showing online poll results as to whether this was a justifiable human rights violation. It cut to a studio where a reporter was debating with a guest analyst about Child Labor Laws and the Geneva Convention.

"Oh dear God. What have they done?"

**End Chapter 23**

**Note: **Yeah I know, I won't leave it hanging for another two years next time. Yet again, sorry about that folks. And thanks for reading. Review if you wanna


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